#keith is not actually at the Garrison when the two Matts swap places

[discordiansamba]

so how is everyone doing in this peacetime reality?

Well first off, the Kerberos mission went off without a hitch, instantly launching the career of young Garrison officer Matt Holt. He now holds the same Commander rank as his father. He works with his dad on all sorts of tech for the Garrison, basically living his ideal life. He also never really gets that second puberty he got in canon so he's still relatively pretty short. His only regret.

Pidge never had to fake her own identity to enter the Garrison, so Katie Holt attended and graduated under her own name. She also works with her dad and Matt, and is still friends with the cadets she was in her flight group with, Hunk and Lance. Hunk's got a solid career as an engineer for the Garrison (and is glad his role lets him do it from the ground). Lance realized he was kind of shooting himself in the foot during his last year and really buckled down with his studies, eventually managing to graduate as a fighter pilot- even if he never obtained the flashy upper level rank he actually wanted.

Shiro is on the verge of retiring as a pilot, but is thinking of staying on as a teacher. His disease is finally showing signs of actively getting in the way of his daily life, but he's got another good ten years before he really has to start worrying about its day to day effects. He made up with Adam and they got married. He's one of the Garrison's most decorated pilots...

...although Keith is hot on his heels, at least in terms of skill. He's proved himself to be one of the most skilled pilots the Garrison has had in generations, but he keeps turning down offers of promotion. Being in the chain of command isn't for him. He's mellowed out a little since his temperamental youth, thanks largely due to Shiro's influence. He's still not really suited for the strict Garrison lifestyle though, so he kind of bounces from base to base. He mostly works as a test pilot.

(Allura and Coran are still asleep, waiting for someone to wake them up.)

#displaced rebel au #keith is not actually at the Garrison when the two Matts swap places #he arrives shortly afterwards and hears about the situation from Shiro #that someone has possibly abducted Commander Holt's son after breaking into the Garrison #he just doesn't expect to find Matt's kidnapper living in his shack

[puppetmaster55]

A Fix-It to Canon

At the interest of @ieshavevo here is my extensive fix-it to vld!

So, uh, wouldn’t change much about seasons 1 and 2, those are actually pretty solid seasons. At best, I would adjust season 1 to be a bit longer, including an episode where they travel to an old colony planet of Alteans to really set in that Allura and Coran are the last of the Alteans. In season 2 I would add an episode later on, mostly revolving around the adjustment of Voltron working with the Blade, to get a sense of the two having a rough start working together.

Also, I’d have a slight change in focus, with more knowledge that Voltron is a myth and nobody really believes in it or has hope in season 1, leading up to the initial assault on the empire’s central command. From there, season 2 is the universe taking notice, word spreading that Voltron is back and is fighting against the empire and Zarkon, and winning.

Then, there would be a little more to season 3, with a slower start that’s time without Shiro and time with only four of the lions. There’d be more people starting to fight back, more planets and systems rebelling against the empire, and word spreading that Zarkon faced off against Voltron and lost. There’d be, as well, time for adjustment after the lion swap. A “Some Assembly Required 2.0” episode. 

Speaking of, the Lion Swap wouldn’t be Keith into Black or Lance into Red. I’d put Lance in Black, and Allura in Blue. Honestly there would be discussion about Allura taking up the role, and a little about Keith being Shiro’s pick, but ultimately it would be Lance. Allura taking on the title of Black Paladin would be something permanent instead of temporary, and Keith doesn’t want it and isn’t a good fit. 

There would be a name-drop of an Empress Merla in the alternate Altean Empire reality, for later on. Lotor, too, would have more of a plan in motion, and would be the source of the Zaiforge Cannons as a show of his progression of the empire in his rule. There would be more buildup toward Naxzela, as well, with Voltron coming across a planetary particle barrier and an Altean terraforming device. Haggar’s entire plan toward Naxzela would be made more clear when it happens, that this is her revenge for the plan that took down Zarkon. She will take down every single rebel faction, Voltron included, in a massive show of force to ensure that there is no more opposition. 

Lotor’s plans will be more about establishing his own foothold as a progressive leader and shift toward a more peaceful rule over the universe. He’ll buy into the Galra Empire’s superiority, but only so far that he can change it into being more sustainable and infinitely less likely to end up consuming itself as more and more planets are killed for their quinessence. 

Voltron finds the rebels, learning that former smugglers Rolo, Nyma, and Beezer joined their ranks. Matt is discovered among their numbers, having had to fake his death in a massive battle to avoid having a bounty on his head collected. 

As for Operation Kuron… the Shiro that returns to Voltron is the real, original Shiro. He’s got programming in his arm, something that wasn’t there before, that makes me more willing to gather every single rebel in on one huge attack on Naxzela and the surrounding systems. 

Something that his clone, Ryou, very nearly succeeded in doing just before the Blue Lion was found. Ryou will be Shiro’s clone, sent into the rebels when they were gathering and a mighty force, with no initial clue that he’s a clone. The “trash nebula” that Pidge crashes into ends up being revealed as the remains of the rebel fleets when Kuron brought Zarkon down upon them. Ryou, in the battle, took damage to the head and to the robot arm, which disabled the mind control and left him realizing everything. 

The rebels are scattered, but they’re coming back together, and under Voltron they can do so much more than they could before. 

Anyway, Naxzela happens, and Lotor in the process of avoiding Haggar gets pushed into going on the run and negotiating his surrender to Voltron. There’s big blowback on Voltron’s side, with the Coalition not wanting to be so into bargaining with Lotor, the rebels wanting to dispose of him, and Voltron wanting to keep him prisoner. Time passes, and with it Haggar brings back Zarkon to right all the failures of Lotor’s rule. 

Lotor and the Generals split, the Generals with Narti (who is comatose following the attempt by Haggar to mind control her), untle the Generals realize that they need Voltron and to return to Lotor. So they pick up a human prisoner that some value to trade for their safety: Keith’s Dad. 

What they don’t know, is that Keith’s Dad is also Acxa’s Dad, and it’s revealed that their shared mother is Lotor’s dead sister, Marmora. 

Keith, angry at his father for abandoning him, avoids the man. 

Lotor gets closer to the Paladins, and with it he reveals more about his life: his time ruling over a planet that Zarkon destroyed, and even that he’s got Sam Holt working for him in a special work camp full of scientists working for Lotor. He’s one of the scientists who worked toward reverse engineering the teludav and that it can reopen the rift on Daibazaal. Sam helps to convince the Paladins that Lotor isn’t all bad and that he can be trusted. Acxa reveals that she had the bounty placed on Matt to return him to the Empire so he could be reunited with his father. Both Sam and Keith’s Dad are sent back to Earth. 

Lotor manages to gain their favor in time to call upon a Kral Zera: an honor battle for the throne of the empire. He fights against Zarkon, almost gaining the win until Haggar intervenes, nearly taking full control over Shiro. Somewhere in the time Lotor’s under Voltron’s care, Sendak comes back, and is as honorable Galra as ever. He begins having doubts about Zarkon’s leadership when Haggar intervenes to “force” a win. Haggar, meanwhile, takes Sendak to act as her protector. 

Allura looks into her powers, looking and training with Lotor’s aid, to the point that they all go to Oriande. There, they find the Protector of the White Lion, Queen Melenor. Allura learns of the true origin of Voltron, and is given the opportunity to learn the secrets of Alchemy. However, Haggar uses her control over Shiro to learn about Oriande and attacks it, causing Lotor to become suspicious of the Paladins. Melenor is lost in the attack, but passes on her role of Guardian to Allura. Allura trains with her powers, managing to capture a druid and interrogate it about their origins and powers. There, they learn that the druids are actually the research team Honerva led. 

The Coalition and rebels are furious about Voltron’s gamble, straining Voltron’s allies into breaking from their alliance. One of the rebels, Romelle, makes an attempt on Lotor, revealing herself as Altean and pushing Lotor into revealing that the planet he was in control over was an Altean colony. She claims that he is behind the death of the planet and all the Alteans on it, with herself as the only surviver, forcing Voltron to follow Allura’s lead and attack Lotor. 

Lotor flees with the Generals, all of them going toward the rift gate as the last safe place to lay low and hide until everyone fights each other and then they can emerge from the ashes and rebuild everything better. Unfortunately, Haggar used her connections to Narti and Shiro to learn the location of the rift gate and continued working on it. Haggar begins to activate the rift gate, and to distract Voltron takes full control over Shiro. Shiro comes along to Sendak’s side, and they manage to keep the Paladins distracted. Ultimately, Shiro, with the help of the Paladins, is broken free of Haggar’s control and fights Sendak to a standstill. 

Sincline and Voltron fight, with the Paladins thinking that all of this is Lotor’s fault. The two battle, until they both are hit and the Sincline caught in a tractor beam. Through the rift comes a number of ships, all Altean in design. 

Empress Merla has arrived, intent on bringing the Altean Peace to this and every other universe. Haggar goes to her side, claiming her old self as Honerva, while Lotor and the Sincline is captured. Merla created her own prototype gate using a teludav built by the Sincline Comet of her own reality, as found on her Oriande. Being obsessed with Honerva’s studies, Merla accepts Haggar to her side. The Generals manage to escape, Sendak flees back to Zarkon’s side to report about the arrival of the Alteans, and Voltron flees. 

With no allies and their name sullied by their siding with Lotor, Voltron flies to Earth to hide and recouperate. There, the Paladins nearly separate, returning to their families and reconsidering their duties and resolve. Meanwhile, Merla has taken up the trust and leadership of the Coalition, although there is a deal of mistrust within the rebels. She expands her presence, using the Hoktril to control and silence anyone who would dare dissent. Lotor, in his prison, looks upon Merla and sees everything that he was working toward. 

Shiro gets a new arm built. Keith gets quiet reconciliation with his father. Hunk discovers that he’s become so much braver than before. Lance reconnects with his family, and finds he misses space. Allura and Coran get into some lighthearted Earth shenanigans with each of the Paladins, maybe visit a zoo while they’re at it. Lance reaches out to Shiro, and speaks about his time leading Voltron, and also that he has more about his sexuality than he thought. There’s a small confession of feelings, and they decide to enjoy their time together, going on a date. 

They all find they miss traveling through space and realize that it is their love of the universe that brought them to fight for it, and that their failures do not define them. Also, they decide, when this is all over and done with they’ll go on a road trip across the universe. 

The Galaxy Garrison does their best to run the Paladins around any actual duties, until it’s revealed that the GG is reaching out toward Merla, and building their own Voltron out of fifteen vehicles. The Paladins gather together, fleeing Earth after a brief clash with Vehicle Voltron. The clash leaves doubt in the pilots and various members of the GG about the alliance with Merla. 

Voltron is on the run now, reaching out to old allies, finding the Hoktril in place on those planets. 

The rebels build their own Gladiator Voltron to protect against Merla after discovering the existence of the Hoktril. They take their team and Gladiator Voltron and flee, going to help others and join back up with Voltron. The Coalition shows unease at Merla’s rule. 

Merla clashes with Haggar, who takes the prototype teludav made of the Sincline Comet and is working on something. Haggar takes the upper hand, sending Merla on the defensive and fleeing back to Zarkon, revealing that she’s been playing both sides and that despite her past as Honerva, Haggar is her true self and her ends are her own to achieve. 

Lotor escapes, broken out of his prison by his own engenuity and with the help of his Generals. Narti, now awake, joins in as the five flee in the Sincline to find Voltron and warn them. 

Zarkon’s own rule over the Empire is crumbling, more and more of his subordinates showing a lack of faith and trust and obedience in him. Haggar proposes her new rift gate, and that they use the rift creatures within to cement Zarkon’s rule. 

Everyone is on the move, the forces gathering and reaching out to Voltron. Merla begins sending out combat mechas, ones originally prototyped under Merla and improved by Haggar, to sow fear and attempt to regain control. Sendak defects from Zarkon, finding Voltron and Sincline and fighting Shiro, this time to Shiro’s win. Sendak’s sense of honor is such that Zarkon’s win at the Kral Zera was dishonerable and while he does still hate Voltron, he would rather see someone with true Galra Honor like Lotor seated upon the throne of the Empire instead of Zarkon. 

Lotor reaches out to Voltron, and in the process finally tells Acxa, Keith, and the rest of the various allies about Marmora and the circumstances of her death. Marmora had gone to Earth, then returned, and with it Haggar had placed a same kind of mind control as Shiro and Narti were victims to. Through her, Zarkon had learned of the true method Lotor was using to rule over the Altean planet Pollux. Romelle had managed to escape, but what she saw was Lotor watching Pollux burn. In his panic, Lotor had killed his sister, and since then has regretted his actions and worked toward the peace that she had wanted for the Empire. 

Lotor has decided that while he will stand up as the new leader of the Galra, the Empire reduced and dismantled down into a small number of systems capable of safely being the new home of the Galra. He will not see the Galra as conquerors, and will not see the Empire continue to exist. Sendak shared what he learned about Zarkon’s plans, while Lotor and the Generals share what knowledge they’ve gained about Merla and, more importantly, Haggar’s plans. 

The prep for the final battle begins, with Voltron’s return to the stage by battling Merla’s mechas, and even joining in with the Gladiator Voltron. Vehicle Voltron turns up, Earth and the rest of the Coalition having defected away from Merla. Together, Allura and Lotor discover a means of breaking the Hoktril, and dig deeper into Voltron’s past. 

They learn about the rift creatures, beings of Chaos and Void, and of the Defenders that fought against it: the Lions, the Sincline, and the Oriande. Oriande is discovered to be what the White Lion is named, and is the Paladin of Light. Sincline is similar, and its Paladin of Dark. They, along with Voltron, are the Seven Paladins of Creation, the Defenders of the Universe. They learn that the Cosmic Abyss is where the Ancients come from, who began the universe and where Voltron called home. The great calamity that turned it into the Cosmic Abyss is from when the rift creatures touched it, and Voltron and Sincline battled it and ended up as the comets scattered around the universe. 

Allura is established as the leader of the Coalition. 

Lotor becomes the true Emperor of the Galra Empire. 

The Blade makes contact, having managed to gain knowledge of where the final battle will happen. 

Haggar enacts her rift gate, letting loose the Void Creatures from the rift. Zarkon takes one of the creatures within himself, transforming into a robeast that battles off Merla’s own attack. 

THe heroes arrive, fighting the Void Creatures. Voltron is joined by Sincline, Vehicle Voltron, Gladiator Voltron, the rebels, the Blade, and the Coalition. Allura directs them all from the Castle, until she brings the Castle into the battle. Merla and her remaining mechas join as well, realizing that she’s failed and when this is over she will have to stand for her crimes in both this universe and her own. From inside the rift, more realities join in: the Guns of Gamara, and even other version of Voltron from different realities. 

The Castle transforms, Allura realizing that she has passed on the White Lion spirit into the Castle of Lions itself. They join the battle, and gain the upper hand. Voltron fights Zarkon, striking him down as he leads the Void Creatures. Allura and Lotor both fight Haggar, ultimately leading to her defeat. The Void Creatures are defeated, and the rift gate, now the void gate, is destroyed. 

The universe is saved.

The various other Voltrons are returned to their universes, and Merla is taken into custody by the Guns of Gamara. With the universe moving toward peace, the Paladins go and kidnap Allura and Coran, promising to return the president of the Coalition once their road trip across the universe is done. In the meantime, Vehicle Voltron prepares to go out and ensure that there continues to be peace within the Coalition and no pirates or factions of the Empire try to rise up. Gladiator Voltron prepares for a long journey around the universe, fighting for justice wherever it is needed.

And the Paladins? They finally get that road trip.

#voltron #shance #MY FIX-IT #BC THERE'S A LIL BIT OF IT IN THERE I'M TAGGING THE SHIP #my word this got longer than intended. over 2.7K #puppet writes

[pandoraseevee]

Voltron Season 8 Rewrite

Full disclosure: This was inspired by @lotor-and-his-generals rewrite of Season 6. Go give it a read its 100% better than the real Season 6. As the title suggests, this is a complete rewrite of Season 8. Some of the plot points here were inspired by the metas of #TeamPurpleLion (@felixazrael, @voltronisruiningmylife, @leakinghate, @dragonofyang, and @crystal-rebellion), @kcwcommentary commentaries, and @ptw30 regarding Shiro’s character arc. 

This will cover the first 6 episodes of the season (Launch Date to Genesis in case you forgot) Please note, there are a thousand ways to rewrite this egregious finale, this is just my idea (one of many floating in my brain lol) of how I think everything should of gone down. 

Warning: Very, very, very long post ahead because I tend to ramble-write. Especially if it’s a scene I really enjoyed planning.

~A FEW THINGS TO REMEMBER IN THIS REWRITE~

1) Lance’s sexuality will be addressed; it’ll be one of the most important arcs he’ll have in this rewrite. I don’t mean to rag on what is canon, but you can’t suddenly thrust two characters into relationship when one of them has been harassing the other for 6 seasons and the other just went through one of the worst breakups in fiction ever. (Also that whole deal of Lance holding the LGBT sign with Shiro, like that had to mean something) Shiro will be one of the key players in his arc because he’s Space Dad and speaking of Space Dad...

2) ADAM. IS. ALIVE. Because if Hunk, Pidge, and Lance’s families were able to stay alive during Sendak’s Invasion, Adam can too! Instead of dying, it’s a fake-out death like Veronica’s. A very long fake-out death. His ship isn’t blasted head on, but one of the wings is severely damaged and he falls dead stick into the dessert. Because MIA doesn’t seem exist in the Galaxy Garrison, they report him as deceased. In this rewrite, he’s actually in one of the concentration camps, the same one Hunk’s family was in. He suffers from a painful leg burn that leads to his leg being amputated and staying on Space Crutches until Team Voltron defeats Sendak and Honerva’s Robeast. He and Shiro were reunited when he arrived at the Garrison Hospital for proper treatment and it was filled with angst, tears, and then a happy mutual understanding between them.

3) Allura’s Altean alchemy is continuously growing throughout this season. She thought that she had exhausted all the lessons she learned from Oriande between the Sincline fight and reviving Shiro. Upon learning this, she along with Sam Holt and the Garrison were able to develop new weapons for the entirety of the Atlas, including a few new MFE Fighters. This culminates in the first episode of this rewrite and going off of that...

5) Lion Swap is undone this season. I thought it made sense when I first watched it but then I realized it was purely done for nostalgia points. I highly recommend you go read @janestrider meta The Wolf, The Atlas, and The Bayard about how Black Paladin Shiro was supposed to come back in Season 7 until the the studios were forced to keep Black Paladin Keith. In reality Black Paladin Keith only lasted for one episode in Season 3, and at least 2 and a half episodes in Season 6. The rest of the time he’s either with the Blade, on his own, or gets the team in deeper trouble. (I still love him tho) So Allura gets the leadership position she deserves, Shiro gets to lead Voltron again, and Keith isn’t as much of a loner anymore!

6) (My thoughts/commentaries will be formatted like this) (I’ll provide some extra commentary throughout the rewrites.) 

7) If you want to read these rewrites individually you can start here: Launch Date - Shadows - The Prisoner’s Dillema - Battle Scars - The Grudge - Genesis

Now, are you ready? Here we go! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 1: Launch Date~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(The image above should change so that Allura is in Shiro’s place, Shiro is in Keith’s place, and Keith is in Allura’s place)

The opening of this episode is relatively the same with Pidge and Bebe watching 80′s!Voltron, Allura and Romelle talking about Luca while she’s resting in the medical wing, and finally Hunk and his family and Lance in the cafeteria. Unlike in the original episode, Lance isn’t creepily obsessive over Allura in this scene when Hunk brings up 80′s!Keith and Allura’s relationship (bleh). Instead, because he also watches the show, laughs and says “They made Keith and Allura’s story of running away from the Castle so romantic. It was Romeo and Juliet but in space!” He laughs again. Suddenly Lance gets uncomfortable and awkwardly coughs, remembering that Allura did fall in love with a half-Galra, just not Keith. Hunk notices this and tries to change the subject to cheer him up.

Hunk: It’s our last day on Earth. Boy, I thought I would never say those words but here we are.

Lance: Yeah, crazy...

Hunk: So, how’re you gonna spend these last 24 hours? Besides getting the proper 7-8 hours of sleep?

Lance (who begins to smile again): Well, my family’s having a huge dinner. Ma and Pa want to savor every minute with Veronica and I. And Nadia and Silvio wanna hear about our adventures one more time even though they hear it every night before bed.

Hunk then suggests that maybe he should ask Allura out. Lance blushes and tries to evade the subject of a date. When questioned by Hunk, he falls back to the same excuse that she’s too busy with Romelle and the Altean pilot. Hunk’s siblings (cousins?) overhear the conversation, deciding that Lance’s lovelife was more interesting then whatever they were playing. They pester and pressure Lance into asking the pretty princess out on a date. Chanting “Ask her! Ask her! Ask her!” until he finally gives in and agrees to just to get them to shut up. They cheer and return to their game. Lance sighs a mushroom cloud.

The Voltron Coalition meeting proceeds as usual but one major change: Allura is the one standing beside Shiro, not Veronica. Princess Allura is the leader of the Voltron Coalition so she should be held in the same position as Shiro if not higher. Everyone in the Coalition still defer to her even though she doesn’t have her crown yet. But because they’re on Earth, she allows Shiro to take charge of the meetings in this episode. Shiro goes through the mandatory “Is the Atlas fully prepared?” questions before he makes his biggest announcement: He will not be commanding the ATLAS during this mission. 

The Garrison and the Coalition are in shock. Iverson asks who would be commanding the ATLAS if not Shiro. Shiro says that it’ll be commanded by Allura. Even she is shocked at the development. Shiro admits that while the crew would be more comfortable with Shiro as the leader, Allura knows more about space then he does. And the Castle crystal being its main power source essentially makes it hers. Hunk then asks where Shiro will go if he’s not in the ATLAS. Keith answers the Black Lion. Team Voltron realizes that meant that Keith would go back to Red and Lance would go back to Blue, undoing the Lion Swap. Lance isn’t as agitated with this Lion (Un) Swap unlike in Season 3. He almost seems relieved that Keith is taking back Red. “Red misses you. A lot.” Is his response. 

Shiro moves aside and allows Allura to step forward. She clears her throat to settle the commotion and asks one of the medics for an update on Luca’s condition. They say that she’s sleeping and expect her to wake up in a few hours. Without missing a beat, she asks Matt, Rolo, and Nyma how many weapons they have in storage, they say they have enough to give everyone on the ATLAS one blaster for protection thanks to her alchemy. Smiling, she then asks Kolivan and Krolia if their mission of restoring the Blade has made progress. They say that while they have recruited a few before their arrival on Earth, they’ll have a better chance once the ATLAS takes flight. She moves her gaze over to Slav, who’s as fidgety as ever, and asks if they’re doing anything wrong. Slav says that there’s a 65.4% chance that something big is going to happen to them in this reality. She asks if it’s something good or something bad. Slav says he can’t make a precise calculation until again, the ATLAS takes flight. This makes the boardroom even more uneasy.

Allura once again tells everyone to settle down, saying that they’re last day on Earth shouldn’t be filled with fear, but with remembrance and happiness. “Spend the day with the ones you love.” As she says that, Shiro’s gaze not-so-subtly slides to Adam, who can’t keep a straight face and blushes. With that, Allura dismisses the meeting. Allura and Romelle exit together, Lance following very, very far behind them. Hunk, irritated, pushes Lance towards Allura. Lance apologizes profusely, Allura reassures him its alright and asks if he needed something. Lance, hesitantly and stuttering, asks Allura if she wanted to have dinner with him and his family. Allura gently rejects the invite, repeating what Lance told Hunk, and that she wants to be there when Luca wakes up. Romelle, not liking how Allura isn’t following her own advice, tells her that she’ll watch over Luca and update her if something happens. Allura thanks her but she still isn’t sure, since they have that sleepover planned with the MFE girls and are going to the mall. Romelle insists that she has fun on her last day on Earth. 

Lance silently watches them go back and forth, he sees Hunk give him a thumbs up. He also notices Keith, Shiro, and Adam (the latter two holding hands) exiting the boardroom. Keith is snorting into his hand at what might’ve been a really bad joke Adam told Shiro. Lance stares blankly, he had never seen Keith’s face twist that way before. He decides he really likes it. He watches the trio disappear around a corner before he’s brought back to the present by Allura calling his name. He hopes no one saw him staring at Keith’s suddenly pretty face.

Lance (blushing): Y-Yeah Allura?

Allura: I said that I can’t join you and your family for dinner.

Lance (hurt by the rejection but doesn’t show it): Really? Is that your final answer? You can still change your mind...

Allura (nods): Yes, that is my final answer. I’m sorry

Lance (he smiles so much that his cheeks hurt): Oh, that’s fine! No harm done! 

Allura (nods again, smiling): That’s wonderful to hear.

Lance tells her he’ll see her later and lets the Altean girls walk past him. He waits until they round the opposite corner before he sighs, disappointed. Hunk pats his back, saying he’s sorry he pushed him into doing that. Lance chuckles, saying that he kinda expected the rejection. He hears snuffling and sees Kosmo watching them, he blinks and teleports. Lance and Hunk shrug it off and walk away.

(HAHA Bait and Switch!) (Biggest change in this episode is that it’s not an Allurance Date Episode, it’s an Adashi Date Episode) 

The shopping scene is too great to remove tho. So, instead of shopping for a date outfit, the MFE girls help the Altean girls buy Earth clothing because it can get kinda boring to wear their Garrison uniforms all the time. Some extra girl-bonding between all of them (minus Pidge cause she’s grounded but she can drop by every few min). Maybe Rizavi can introduce the Altean girls to those soft mall pretzels. (The wait would be a pain tho cause they’d have to do it one at time lmao) 

Allura’s Earth outfit would have a few revisions to it: it would have a fuller skirt (Maybe those full circle swing skirts from the 1950′s) because she’s a princess. Maybe a light blue shawl too. Romelle’s outfit would totally be a modern version of her hot pink dress from 80′s!Voltron. Pidge still gives the Unilu shopkeeper her game. The girls leave and Unilu shopkeeper sees Pidge holding another game. He feels cheated but it’s revealed that Pidge and Rizavi each bought one game for themselves. Pidge’s copy of the game is the one she gave him. Rizavi and Pidge agree to take one player slot and play the game separately, No spoilers, or bust. They shake on it and all head back to the Garrison.

Keith and Kosmo aren’t chilling on the Black Lion, they’re just on one of the Garrison rooftops. Team Dad Shiro and Adam are with him too. Probably cuddling. (What good maybe-boyfriends uwu) Keith isn’t jealous of how easy-going their relationship is. Lance greets them like he did in the original episode. Adam jokes that he looked like he ran a marathon, Lance responds that he probably did. 

Shiro: Coran?

Lance: Coran

The trio nods in understanding. Keith fondly asks what crazy antics he did this time. Lance explains the whole ‘Not a Date, it’s Dinner, Ok it might be a Date’ situation with Allura. Keith congrats Lance although Team Dad notices he’s saying it weirdly. Lance corrects him saying that Allura rejected him.

However, while they were doing something he eventually forgot about Allura accidentally let it slip and Coran started his patriarchal bs we see in the original episode. Lance absolutely noped out of there but said that he would like to learn about Altean vestments another time. Keith and Lance have their Sunset Conversation. Shiro and Adam observe, not wanting to intrude. 

Suddenly, Lance asks how they (Adam and Shiro) realized they liked men. Shiro chuckles and says that it took a while for them both to realize it. They’ve lived different lives. Shiro’s father died during World War III and Adam’s parents were not as accepting of his sexuality as Shiro’s mother. He had to stay with a friend before he got into the Garrison. Adam says it’s normal for someone to deny their sexuality. “But if you think that it’s part of you then embrace it. Because it makes you you.” Adam says, Shiro lays his head on his shoulder. Keith fake gags. Lance remembers that. And then he also remembers what he was doing earlier. He tells the group that Allura needed Shiro and Keith for something. It’s about the Lions and Kosmo teleports all of them there.

Allura, Hunk, Pidge, and Coran are with the Lions. Black, Red, and Blue have their shields up. Allura says that Shiro, Keith, and Lance have to reestablish the bonds with their Lions. For Shiro, that’s pretty easy. All the time in Black’s consciousness did nothing but strengthen their bond even more. He places his human hand on the shield and whispers, “Trust me.” The shield goes down and Black rests its head against his hand, it’s eyes glowing. He smiles. 

Keith clenches his fist, staring up at Red. Lance gently bumps his shoulder, “Where’s Voltron without its right hand Lion?” Everyone laughs lightly at the joke. Keith gives Lance that soft look he always gives him. Lance decides he likes that face on Keith too and hands him back the Red Bayard. Keith approaches the shield. “Red, are you there?” No response.

Keith (sighing): Look, I know you’re mad at me. I left you to lead Voltron when Shiro disappeared. He wanted me to take his place if anything happened to him. He believed in me, he’s always believed in me, and I’m so grateful that he still does. But...I never wanted to lead Voltron. Black and I bonded out of necessity. I learned to open myself to the team when I piloted you. And then I understood the responsibility of holding a position like this when piloting Black. And I now want keep learning about this, this bond that’s beyond myself, with you. 

It takes a few minutes but Red’s shield goes down. Keith smirks, welcoming Red’s attitude again. He looks over to Lance, “Your turn.” Lance stretches his arms, “Ok, here we go.” And approaches the Blue Lion.

Lance: Blue? Heeyyy, girl~ I’ve missed you.

Like Red, Blue doesn’t respond. Lance brushes it off, he hasn’t bonded with Blue in a while it’s alright. He tries again. When Blue still doesn’t respond, he places his hands on his hips. “Do I have to use my particle barrier line on you again?” Still nothing. Lance huffs. “Then what do you want!? I’m sorry! I had to pilot Red! You know that! You were the one that shut me out first remember!?”

Allura: The Blue Lion is the most versatile of the Lions, its attacks cover a wide range on the battlefield and its flexibility is what makes it the most accepting of new Paladins. However that makes them incredibly devoted and sensitive to their Paladins. They must be flexible themselves as well as powerful to steer the Blue Lion on task.

Lance: Flexible and powerful huh? Well, the Blue Lion is a leg of Voltron. So it’s a support Lion right? Not to the same degree as Red’s support to Black but you know what I mean. When I left Blue for Red, I did it because I accepted Keith as the Black Paladin. Keith needed a right hand man the same way Shiro needed him. And then when you became a Paladin...I was willing to step away so that you, Shiro, and Keith could have spots on the team. So...I still have what it takes to pilot Blue! Because everything I did was to keep the Team together! Even if it meant leaving Blue.

Allura: Exactly Lonce!

Blue’s shield goes down, everybody cheers. Pidge says that the ‘6 Paladins, 5 Lions’ situation shouldn’t be a problem. If Shiro’s down Keith can take over, if Keith is down Lance can take over, and Allura can take over for any of them since she’s connected to all of them. Allura agrees and gives the Blue Bayard back to Lance. 

Hunk tries to imagine how crazy the team dynamic would’ve been if he and Pidge were in the Lion Swap too. Pidge jokes that they wouldn’t make it. Everyone laughs. No one notices that the Lions eyes are glowing, communicating with each other.

Dinner at the McClain’s goes smoothly. When Veronica asks Lance about Keith, she calmly watches Lance flip his lid while exchanging smug glances with Ma McClain. Ma McClain shakes her head, smiling. Nadia and Silvio want to hear about how Lance saved Allura during the Omega Shield mission. Lance corrects them and says, “She technically saved me too. It was a double save!” He laughs along with the rest of the McClains. Nadia comments that Allura really is a Princess, she has a crown, a carriage (Blue), and magical powers. She just needs a Prince. Silvio says that Uncle Lance is already her Prince. Lance grows tense, but no one notices. 

The two children ask if Lance really has to leave them so soon. Ma and Pa McClain voice their concerns as well. Lance says that its his duty as the Blue Paladin. The McClain’s are confused cause they remember him piloting Red. Veronica tells them about the Lion (un) Swap. Lance then repeats what Allura told the Paladins about Blue. The McClains are very impressed with Lance’s maturity. Veronica then proposes a toast, to Lance, to the Voltron Lions, to ATLAS, and last but most importantly, family. Everyone joins the toast.

A short montage plays of how Team Voltron is spending their last day. Starting off with the McClain family toast and transitioning Hunk and his family playing Stack-A-Ton (Voltron’s version of Janga lmao). Shay asks if she can join and is actually pretty good at it, Hunk is a proud boyfriend. Pidge and her family are making last preparations on the ATLAS, Beezer wheeling around to give them food and drinks. He then darts away when Bebe tries to jump him. The MFE and Altean girls singing along to a digital speaker in one of their bunkers. And then it ends with biggest change of the episode: dinner at the Shirogane household. 

Shiro is in his room, adjusting his clothing. He goes to move the right sleeve of his button up down, then realizes the rest of his arm is floating. He laughs to himself, watching his loose sleeve flop around as he walks around. “Need help with that?” Shiro turns and finds Adam leaning against the door-frame. “Please.” He says and Adam does the rest the buttons for him. He rolls up the loose sleeve and makes sure it doesn’t move when they realize how close they are. (UST, UST, UST, baby~) They both look like they want to say something but then they hear someone knocking on the door.

Shiro, Adam, and Shiro’s mother, Mizuki Shirogane, welcome Keith and his family. Mizuki embraces Keith like a second child and they are seated. She doesn’t bat an eye when Kolivan and Krolia apply the Galra custom of placing their weapon in front of their plates to an Earth household. (Kolivan is courting Krolia at the end of Season 7, that’s why he’s with them) Mizuki and Krolia get along exceptionally well; being two hard-working single mothers, they bond over many things. Krolia thanks Mizuki for raising Keith alongside Shiro. Mizuki says that it wasn’t easy.

Mizuki: I felt like I was raising two sons when Shiro took Keith under his wing.

Shiro (laughing): Okaa-san!

Mizuki: You knew what you were getting into, Takashi!

Adam: Oh, he definitely did.

Shiro (jokingly pushes him): Hey! Nobody asked you!

They all have a good laugh. Kolivan is slightly miffed that the Shirogane family cat, Marble, has decided his lap was a nice place to roll around, Keith tries not to snort the orange juice out of his nose at the sight. Kosmo eats the table scrapes, cause he’s not a normal wolf and he can eat almost anything. “Dang, that wolf eats more than the MFE’s!” Adam wonders how big he’s going to grow, Keith can’t answer that and (jokingly) realizes he made a mistake bringing him back with him. Kosmo whimpers and Keith offers him his grilled salmon as an apology.

While Adam and Shiro are cleaning the dishes, Mizuki offers their guests some homemade dorayaki in the living room. Keith greedily chomps down on them. Krolia and Kolivan look at the new food strangely, Kosmo. Keith offers one to his mom, “They’re a sweet...bread...sort of. Ms. Shirogane made them all the time for us. She has a secret recipe that makes them extra tasty.” Krolia takes a bite and also chomps them down. She tries to apologize to Mizuki in between bites but she remarks that she’s always cooked for big eaters. “Why do you think Takashi is as big as he is today?” Shiro blushes bright red and flicks bubbles at Adam when he laughs.

The lights in the Shirogane household flicker. Krolia, Kolivan, and Keith are ready for an attack. Marble jumps and scurries to Mizuki. She calms them down and says that its just maintenance in the Plaht city. “They must’ve gotten the city lights to finally work.” Adam gasps and takes Shiro’s hand and they run out of the kitchen. Mizuki and Keith’s family are left wide-eyed, Keith winks at them. Shiro asks where they’re going, Adam shushes him and brings his hands over his eyes. “It’s a surprise~” Shiro laughs, carefree and joyful. Adam suddenly stops and slowly removes his hands. 

“Okay, you can open them now.” Shiro opens his eyes and sees that they’re on the balcony, in the distance Plaht City is engulfed in warm, golden light. He’s in awe, slowly walking to the balcony’s edge to take in the view. “Wow...” (I imagined the Shirogane household to be house that looked over the city)

(And for extra feels listen to either of these tracks: Track 1 or Track 2)

Adam: I know the re-entry caused you some memory loss, but I thought this might bring some of them back. It was always your favorite sight. Even when you stayed at the Garrison.

Shiro: Of course I remember this. Okaa-san always brought me here whenever I had a nightmare, or a bad day, or even on a good day. When I was imprisoned...I did things that I swore I would never do. But, it was Zarkon...for him it was all or nothing. The same with Honerva. When they threw me back into the cells after every battle, this view was one of the things I always thought about. It helped me get through so much pain.

Adam:...What else did you think about?

Shiro: Sunrises and sunsets at the Garrison, Marble, Okaa-san, Keith and...(he turns around, the lights of the city illuminating his white hair) you. The very idea of seeing any of you again.

Adam (Mentally: Baby, you’re my aaaaannnnggellll~ hehehe): Takashi...

Shiro: Adam I---

Adam: I’m sorry.

Shiro: What?

Adam (looks down): I’m sorry, Takashi. I didn’t want our relationship to end like every cliche romcom with a sick character. But it did. I wanted to support you--I did support you. I stood by you throughout our entire lives at the Garrison. But I was just so worried about you. My parents left me a long, long time ago. It took me a while to realize that...that I was alone. I didn’t want you to leave me too. I didn’t want left behind again.

Shiro: (he looks down, recollecting his thoughts) I’m sorry too.

Adam: What? No, T-Takashi. You didn’t do anything wrong---

Shiro: Yes, I did. I-I...The disease that I had, everyone was doubting me. Sanda, Iverson, Keith...you. A small part of me continued with the mission to prove all of you wrong. Another part wanted to take this chance to see the stars. What I thought was my last chance to ever do something this important to me...I know I made you really, really upset. And please know that I’ll do whatever I can to make it up to you. But also know that I’m not staying here this time. Not when my family, our family is going up against what might be the biggest threat to the universe.

Adam (nods): I know that. I’ve always known that. You love the stars, Takashi, you would always stare at them, as if waiting for a sign. Now they’re calling out to you and I’ll be right there beside you when you meet them. And after that...if you want...I’ll be beside you wherever you go.

Shiro (soft soft boi): Really? Do you mean that?

Adam (taking his mechanical hand): With all my heart.

Aaaannnddddd they kiss!

Adam: Do you remember what you said to me before you took off all those years ago?

Shiro (chuckles): I said a lot of things that day. It was pretty hectic. Maybe be more specific?

Adam: You said that you had a surprise for me. That you were going to show me after Kerberos.

Shiro (slowly remembers, eyes wide): Wait---did you...?

Adam pulls something out of his pocket. “Your mom gave it to me after you disappeared. She said that it’s the least that she could do to help with the pain.” He opens his hand and reveals a golden ring. Shiro stares at it in awe. He covers his mouth with his hands as Adam gets down on one knee.

Adam: When I said I wanted to be beside you wherever you went...I meant it. Takashi Shirogane...will you do me the honor of being my husband? To be together as we travel to the stars and beyond?

Shiro (eyes shining, a tear falls down his face): What kind of question is that? YES!

Adam puts the ring on his other hand and they kiss again. (Cause they’re gay Dreamworks, go all the way or don’t do it at all) Kosmo teleports in front of them, barking and wagging his tail for attention. They both look at their makeshift audience. Mizuki is smiling through her tears, Krolia has a comforting arm around her, Kolivan does an attempt at a thumbs up. Keith gestures them to look at the camera. They smile and Keith snaps a pic. “That’s definitely a keeper.”

Nothing really new with Luca and Romelle’s argument. I felt that it was a tension driven argument between two misguided people. (Which would have been some serious foreshadowing if Lotor was still alive) Unfortunately, Luca is still killed by Honerva. However, it’s like a sling shot effect and Allura hears a voice calling out to her when she’s alone.

She’s alarmed and, when the MFE girls are sleeping, goes to the medical bay. There she sees Romelle crying and Coran comforting her. She puts two and two together and puts on a steely expression.

The next day, the conversation between Allura and Shiro would have the rest of the Paladins present too. Shiro officially gives Allura command over the ATLAS. Allura asks if he’s really sure about this. Shiro says that he’s sure. The ATLAS belongs to her, she was the one that truly gave it power, not him. Adam stands behind him, hand on his shoulder. Shiro squeezes his hand. He says that his bond with the Black Lion is stronger then ever thanks to her, from the beginning they (Shiro and Black) understood each other in ways that seemed impossible. “We all need to be at our best when we face Honerva. And I’m at my best when I’m a Paladin, not a Commander.” He finishes by saying that he’s ready to lead Voltron again. Allura smiles and deactivates Shiro’s new arm to replace it with something more efficient; the Black Bayard. 

Allura removes her crystal from his arm and puts her tiara back on. Everyone in the room bows before Princess Allura of Altea.

Shiro uses his new-new hand to interlock fingers with Adam. Everyone sees their matching rings, pauses, and looks at the two for confirmation. Shiro nods and everybody cheers. Adam tells them to calm down and presents them with their colored uniforms. Instead of two gold bars, they have three. Allura will have four now that she’s commanding the ATLAS. Lance wonders how mad Griffin will be when he sees them.

Last rewrite of this episode is the grand speech given at the end. Instead of Shiro, Sam, Allura, and Keith, Allura fills Sam’s spot, giving her more speaking time. Again, she’s the leader of the Voltron Coalition and the ATLAS’ commander so she ranks higher. Her part of the speech is her commending the Earth for their strength against the Galra and promising that she and the rest of the Coalition will do everything they can to help them. “You have accepted us with open arms and allowed us to help you recover from this war. Now we will continue the fight in your honor, and for the honor of those who have fallen.” (This is why Allura still wears pink, she now wears it in honor of the humans)

The episode ends with the ATLAS taking off and our heroes posing for dramatic effect (lmao). The screen fades to black and you suddenly hear everybody laugh when Pidge does her cartoon impression again. “I’m descended from a clan of ninjaaaazzzz!” And then the credits roll.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kicking off this final season with a bang! Let’s go! So a lot of things happen. It’s the first episode of the final season, I thought that the writers would’ve hit the ground running because we’re in the home stretch. We don’t need to re-introduce everyone. We have all our players in the places they need to be, this season should make the best use of those places in character development to complete their character arcs.

And this episode should keep the audience engaged so that they’re eager to roll over to the next episode. Undoing the Lion Swap, giving Allura the ATLAS, and the Adashi moments would do just that besides giving our cast of characters more development. I guess I’ll explain my reasons for doing those three things. Besides them being obviously what we need after that horrible ending.

Undoing the Lion Swap: Again, I thought it made sense when I first watched it. But then re-watching it again along with taking in other people’s perspectives on it, I realized that it was just so that JDS and LM could recreate the 80′s!Voltron lineup. Which is fine but it shouldn’t have lasted the entire series. Shiro, Keith, Lance, and Allura were all wonderful characters the way they were. They’re not exactly like their 80′s counterparts. Shiro and Allura are definitely not like their 80′s counterparts. Shiro and Black bonded over a common trauma, Keith allowed himself to accept other people besides Shiro, Lance became better focused on the group instead of channeling his other persona, and Allura was a powerful WOC and commander of the team. 

Everyone and their mother and dog knows that JDS and LM wanted to kill off Shiro but couldn’t because Dreamworks correctly predicted that he would be popular with the audiences. So instead of writing a new story about how Keith didn’t need to be a leader to be a valued member of the team, they pushed their Black Paladin Keith storyline ahead and fridged 2 characters in the process. Undoing the Lion Swap allows Keith and Lance to mature once again and further evolve into their roles as Paladins. 

This primarily shown when they reestablish the bonds with their Lions. Keith is not that great of a leader...controversial opinion but agree-to-disagree. He’s a good leader when a specific situation calls for it but he’s not the leader type. He still has the ability to lead when he continue this rewrite don’t worry lol. Same with Lance, sure he and Red seem to be better suited with Lance desiring to be better than Keith because they’re rivals, but ultimately his closest Lion bond is with Blue. Lance and Red should already have a deep bond by Season 7 but Red doesn’t come for him until the last min so that doesn’t make sense. Also the other Lions not fully respond to their Paladins is foreshadowing~

And giving Allura the ATLAS: Really, the proof is in Season 7. It was her crystal that powered the ATLAS, it was her alchemy that allowed it to transform, it’s white like the Castle of Lions and ATLAS’ mech form is more feminine looking with gigantic hips that don’t lie. Allura’s role as the Blue Paladin let her bond closer with the rest of the team. However, after Season 6, where she used her alchemy to build Sincline, enter/exit the Rift, and revive Shiro, it felt like a demotion. So her being in ATLAS returns her to the position of power she had in Season 1.

For the Adashi moments: we finally have a family for Shiro! Because he didn’t come from and egg JDS and LM! Switching The Date from Allurance to Adashi:

 1) Re-establishes Shiro’s validity as a main character 

2) Adds more depth to Adam West, yes that’s his last name in this rewrite, besides being ‘Shiro’s boyfriend that almost died’

3) Doesn’t make his only close relationship between Black and Keith

This episode should also set the tone for the rest of the season. With the combination of Luca’s sudden death, Honerva’s threat looming over them, the Allurance dinner throwing an overload of negative emotions towards Allura, and a romantic relationship with little to no development until the last minute, the viewers rightfully feel like something is off about this season. At least that’s how I felt when I started watching it. The best example showcasing the tone is at the end: when Shiro officially becomes the Black Paladin again and the Leader Trio (Shiro, Keith, and Allura) give their speeches give it the epic, robot blasting tone they desperately wanted constantly. But when they’re all posing dramatically, they almost break character when Pidge does her 80′s impression. So the tone in this rewrite is like a superhero movie, there’s funny moments, there’s serious moments, there’s romance, there’s falling outs. 

And, yes this is a show primarily geared towards children, but because of how diverse the fanbase is in age, sexuality, race etc. I’ll be sneaking in some more mature themes. And, I mean, the Voltron writers kinda backed themselves into a corner when they made Keith half-Galran and did that poorly written plotline. And then that just escalated when they introduced Lotor and his Generals.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 2: Shadows~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first new scene added was just a pure Easter Egg to 80′s!Voltron. When Zarkon and Honerva are discussing baby names, the idea of the baby’s gender comes up. Zarkon and Honerva still have their conversation about combining Lotarius and Koltor’s names to form Lotor. Afterwards, Honerva then asks what their baby’s name should be if it’s a girl, Zarkon warmly suggests another name from Galra mythology: Merla, Koltor’s sister and was just as much a warrior as he was a conqueror. The flashback fades away with Honerva agreeing, smile as radiant as the sun. I would like also put some world-building with Galra culture so during this Zarkon would call Honvera his ‘Empress’ and their unborn child as ‘Kral Mir Tavaar’ (The Spark of the Empire). 

Trying to be as chronologically as possible (at least for this episode cause you can’t really tell between present day and flashbacks until the end >->), because Merla is now (and forever will be!) a Galran name, VLD!Merla needs a new name. From now on VLD!Merla will be referred to as Hira. She might not exactly look like General Hira the way Sven looks like Shiro but they both have pinkish hair and follow a white haired Altean ruler so close enough lol. Also there’s not ‘sister colony’ where Romelle supposedly was. There’s only one colony on Pollux and it’s the one Honerva convinces to join her mission to retrieve Lotor.

Before, Honerva gets to the Colony, she flies to the station where Project Kuron was being built. She closes her eyes and sees Keith’s fight with Kuron, then, through Kuron’s eyes sees that Allura brought Shiro back to life through him. Still no sign of Lotor. She clenches her fists. If the Altean Princess can bring life into her puppets, she’s sadly mistaken. She thought that Project Kuron would be her perfect army. No, she needed an army completely devoted to her. It’s then she thinks about the colony Lotor built. Eyes glowing yellow, she unleashes a wave black magic to destroy the station and every stray clone that floats away. When she’s done, her corrupted Altean marks become cracks on her face, quintessence motes floating out of them. When she touches them, she winces and uses more of her black magic to seal them. On her ship, Kova looks down at his master.

Kova doesn’t die. Nope. Can’t kill the cat. Kova’s not with Honerva actually. Another flashback reveals that Kova willing left her. Honerva is concentrating on finding Lotor, incidentally neglecting Kova. She stops when realizes that Kova’s quintessence is moving away from her, and chases after him. A Galra ship that she recently sent out is carrying him away. Instead of ordering the ship and taking him back, she doesn’t take another second to think about him and goes back to her work. She offered her pet a thousand years of life with quintessence and this is how he repays her? Clearly he’s not loyal pet he once was.

The second new scene will happen shortly after Ven’tar’s planet was destroyed and Lotor is banished from the Empire. After Lotor yells at Haggar, she too leaves him in the room to suffer in silence. As she follows Zarkon down the hall she notices Kova prowling in the shadows, slipping into the room before the doors slide shut. She stares at the door intently but thinks nothing of it as she continues walking. Inside the room, Kova rubs his head against Lotor’s arm, sensing his sorrow. Tears freely fall from his face, his one chance of changing the ways of the Galra gone forever. Lotor wonder’s if that’s how Altea was destroyed, because they refused to surrender to his monster of a father. Suddenly he stops crying and looks directly at the planet, the fire lining up with his pupils, symbolizing a new fire lighting inside him. If Altea never bent the knee to Zarkon, neither would he. He allows Kova to hop onto his shoudler as he stands up, stronger. “We have a mission, Kova.” Kova meows, as if questioning him. Lotor smiles, “Don’t worry, we won’t be alone.”

And instead of sacrificing Kova, Honerva uses the Rift Entity inside her to find Lotor. She discovers the Sincline is still active, eyes glowing, swimming around, like it was a lost child. 

A few days after she sent Luca to Earth to kill Voltron, she tries again. Closing the cracks that formed in her skin, she sees Sincline still swimming in the Rift. She then hears a faint but steady heartbeat from the cockpit. Honerva suddenly has flashbacks of her pregnancy, the heartbeat almost the same but even fainter than the one she’s hearing. It eventually stops. She gasps and falls to her knees. 

Once again, Allura feels it too on the ATLAS bridge. Someone calls out to her again, she looks over her shoulder, terrified but curious,  “It can’t be...”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was probably the shortest and the easiest rewrite out of the 6 episodes (and maybe the whole season’s rewrite). It’s probably because it was the least edited out of the original season. This episode is relatively kept the same with the exception of a name change and a couple of new scenes added in the flashbacks. One thing I felt uncomfortable with in this episode was the attempt at humanizing Zarkon and Honerva. Really? Humanizing them this far into the series was a red flag to me. Come Knights of Light Part 2 through The End is The Beginning and lo’ and behold they rushed their redemption arcs. Zarkon’s redemption arc was like a flip of a switch in one episode and it took Allura mind-raping him! No, no, no, I have something very different in mind for both of these characters. 

I also added a few more scenes in so that the audience would remain torn about Lotor. Is he dead or alive? is the first question. Honerva makes repeated statements that Lotor’s dead but refers to him as the Emperor who pierced the veil aka to discover something beyond death. But Sincline still being active and Allura sensing something on the ATLAS contradicts that statement entirely.

And renaming Merla to Hira. That’s right! That one episode in Season 3 with the morally ambiguous Alteans from the alternate reality was actually foreshadowing the villain’s of the final season. Hole in the Sky was probably my favorite episode in Season 3 because we got these morally ambiguous characters that we’ve previously associated with goodness and hope and everything shiny.

Another change is Honerva’s condition. She might be a Chosen Altean but that doesn’t mean she’s going to use all that black magic and quintessence cartels/supplements for free. Her condition will continue to deteriorate throughout the series as she continues to use her black magic/corrupted alchemy. So, yeah, metaphor for doing drugs don’t do it kids it’s bad for you.

Kova’s scene where he leaves Honerva is supposed to represent how he’s gotten smarter over the years. Living for more then 10,000 years on quintessence can do that to you. He’s fully aware of the toxic relationship he now has with Honerva, how she seems to be using him to recover pieces of her own memory. As he leaves, the new scene after Ven’tar’s planet is destroyed plays out. He’s thinking about Lotor. And how could he not? He practically raised the poor guy alongside the Dayaks. Since Lotor in the flashback was starting to plan the Altean colony and recruit his future half-Galra generals, this now paints him firmly as a good guy. Or is he? Didn’t he drain them in  his second colony? Whose side is he really on? This should be a recurring question until we reach a certain episode.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 3: The Prisoner’s Dilemma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok this is where one of the major plot lines is introduced: Team Voltron atoning for what they did in Season 6. It’s always been on my mind about how Seasons 7-8 could’ve been more dynamic and emotionally charged if it was revealed that some factions of the galaxy blame Voltron for what happened during the time dilation explosion. Because let’s face it: if you throw someone into the Rift to die and said person had already publicly made plans to subdue the main antagonistic force and change it to a force for good...it’s not the best moral decision. They already redeemed themselves in Earth’s eyes but that’s only one planet in the whole universe.

Warlord Lahn’s situation in this episode is a perquisite for their conflict Lotor. (As the #TeamPurpleLion calls it microcosm to macrocosm) His What the Hell, Heroes? talk doesn’t mean anything in the Season 8 we got because we never see our heroes fix their mistakes concerning Lotor. His words ultimately ring hollow because Team Voltron are our heroes right? And heroes NEVER make mistakes right? >-> (This makes me very bitter can you tell?) 

When battling Lahn’s forces, Shiro is (sunglasses) Back in Black (hehehehehehehehe, puns), Allura commands the ATLAS. Thanks to their previous positions as Commander and Paladin, they can better communicate with their respective teams. Shiro’s more focused than ever and Allura calls the strategic shoots like the (boss) leader she is. Same with Keith and Lance. Keith is more understanding and in control with Red and Lance is more straightforward with Blue rather then being a glory-seeker.

Shiro doesn’t ask Lahn to join the Voltron Coalition, Allura does. “Warlord Lahn, if you would do us the honor of joining the Voltron Coalition. We could provide stability to the universe.” When asked if there is an alternative, Allura ponders and says that if Lahn rejects the offer, the Coalition will still provide them with any support they need. Lahn rejects that too. Setting the example for his troops, he won’t accept any help from the likes of Voltron. Not after they caused the Galra Empire to fall apart.

He pounds Team Voltron with an armor-piercing question: “If you really are the Defenders of the Universe, why is the galaxy as afraid of you as much as they worship you?”

Lahn set the example for his troops in the pior scene so they also refuse any medical attention from the ATLAS. Romelle thinks it’s typical Galra behavior and carries on. Colleen is curious and asks why as she passes out blankets. A high-ranking Galra (Let’s call him...Hazar, yay Vehicle Voltron references!) says they won’t accept the help from the traitorous Voltron. She’s confused by this and the Hazar tells her that Voltron promised to help Emperor Lotor provide Quintessence to the Empire. But then one day they Voltron attacked their Emperor in front of the Rift and were never seen again until today. Colleen turns her gaze from Hazar to the Lions, suspicious. She asks Hazar to tell her more, he demands why and she responds that she’s the mother of the Green Paladin, “And I would like to know why my daughter disappeared for 3 years.”

When Lahn lambastes Keith for being a half-breed, Team Voltron is all over him.

Lance: You better back off, buddy!

Shiro: Your views on half-breeds are unimportant and unnecessary.

Hunk: No one talks about our pal like that!

Pidge: Keep in mind that I’m around technology. I can shock you just by plugging two cables together.

Allura: Keith and the Blades of Marmora are one of the strongest warriors I’ve ever met. They sacrificed everything to save the universe. They were the ones who opened my eyes to what true Galra is! 

Because one of the major themes of this show is Found Family and goddammit if a Found Family didn’t defend each other against racists. Lahn sees this protectiveness and asks another armor-piercing question, “Do you truly have the loyalty and faith of your allies? Or are they merely following you to extract revenge on all Galra?” 

Team Voltron can’t answer that question. Adam, Kinkade, and Griffin are troubled. For their war against Sendak, it really was about defeating the Galra. But now...now (At least for Kinkade and Griffin, Adam knows everything since it comes with the package of being Shiro’s SO), they know that this whole situation became much more complex. This is important for the next episode.

Another rewrite is in relation to the title. For an episode called Prisoner’s Dilemma there’s no prisoner present in the episode. I mean you could reach and say it’s the Creature or that it’s Lahn but that’s a very far reach. So, Lahn will be holding a single prisoner on his ship. And that prisoner is (drumroll) Narti. Yeah, don’t murder your blind and deaf Galra General writers. Especially when your audience could have children with those same disabilities. She was captured and brought to Sendak’s service after the Kral Zera, stealing a ship and escaping just before he invaded Earth. Lahn found her and kept her prisoner until Team Voltron and the ATLAS showed up. They found Kova a few days after Sendak’s invasion, he came to her, hopping from ship to ship until he found her again.

Hunk immediately recognizes her as the General that choke held him with her tail. He asks Lahn why she’s being kept here. Narti speaks in a series of growls and hisses, Keith thinks that she’s being hostile to them because some Blades  behaved similarly towards him. Lahn corrects him and says that’s just how her people speak and that he could translate for them. He translates Narti, who switches to Space Sign Language. She reveals that reason why she stays his prisoner is because she still believes Lotor is alive. Team Voltron tries to tell her that she’s wrong, careful to not reveal too many details about what happened before. (Yeah there’s a thing called guilt that exists) Narti argues back that she was the first General Lotor recruited, he believed in her when even her Galra mother didn’t. To the point where he even gave her Kova as an animal familiar to help her see. He never gave up on her, so why should she give up on him?

Kova sees Team Voltron and hisses before crawling up on Narti’s shoulders. They both end up joining Team Voltron and Lahn on the rescue mission, hoping a ride in the Green Lion. Pidge actually finds the swish swish of their tails relaxing. Allura doesn’t accuse Lahn of stealing the weapons because she’s a Commander and commanders don’t blindly accuse people because of their race.

When the teams split up, she goes with Keith and Kosmo, more comfortable with a fellow half-Galra like herself. Similar to the conversation/argument that Lahn has with Allura, Keith denies that he and Narti are anything alike besides their mixed heritage. He can’t be friends, not even allies, with someone like her. Not when she supported someone as sick and twisted as Lotor. Narti signs in confusion, Keith demands that she speaks normally (Because even though he’s the leader, he’s still a bit hotheaded). Narti then penetrates his mind, telepathically saying she doesn’t know what he’s talking about. "You know exactly what I’m talking about.” No, I really don’t... Kova hisses, Kosmo growls. The conversation ends and they refuse to talk to each other. 

When they find the Creature, Kosmo and Keith nyoom! away from it at first. Narti uses her tail to smack debris in its way. They still teleport away but Narti doesn’t grab onto Kosmo. She simply stares at them when they approach her. The Creature is confused, opening its mouth to roar at her. Narti doesn’t react. The Creature leans down to sniff at her, sensing a strange connection between them, Narti reaches a clawed hand to its face. It growls before she starts stroking it, Kova butts his head against it’s tough forehead. The Creature slowly calms down. That is until Kosmo teleports beside her, scaring the Creature into attacking. Kosmo scratches the Creature’s nose and brings her back to Lahn and Team Voltron. Extremely pissed, Narti opens her mouth and reveals her two forked tongues as she hisses. Kosmo tries to swipe at her face too. Kova nearly pounces on him but Narti snares him with her tail.

By the time Kosmo teleported Narti to the cockpit, Team Voltron and Lahn had already formed the plan of turning the ship into a bomb and destroying the Creature. Narti then telepathically invades all their minds, causing all of them to yell in pain. She reprimands them for seeing something unusual and immediately deciding to destroy it. Keith tells her that it’s Ranveig’s creature from the Quantum Abyss and was experimented on by Lotor’s vats of pure Quintessence, it’s a monster who can’t tell friend from foe. Narti says she already knew that. It’s why she’s even more pissed at them. 

She says that the monster is always attacking is because they (Voltron and the Galra) always decide to shoot first. To her, ‘Victory or Death’ applies to both sides. She says that it’s pattern that she noticed with her limited interactions; they lack patience and are hilariously short-sighted.

When she skimmed the Creatures thoughts, she sensed erratic confusion and fear from them. The Creature is tired, they’re hungry, they want to rest. they wants to get off the ship. Their intrusion only added to their stress/anxiety. Even if they appear monstrous, the Creature has their own life to live. Ashamed, Keith repeats again that its his fault, Lance tries to convince him its not, but Narti agrees and he can still atone for it. Lahn snaps and asks what a bunch of half breeds and traitors to the Empire could do to fix this ‘mistake’. “It seems to me that Voltron should be known as the Legendary Failure then the Legendary Defender.” After being a semi-optimistic doormat for so long, Narti finally snaps, “Shut. Your. Quiznak. Or I’ll use my tail to strangle you over the Creatures jaw and let it devour you!” 

Everyone stares at her. Lahn smirks, baring his teeth.

Lahn: You are definitely Galra with that temper.

Narti (flicking her tail): I don’t need you approval to be a true Galra. It’s in my blood and it’s who I am. And I might be the only one who can stop them. I only ask you to be patient with me. Let me subdue them. If you truly are the heroic Paladins you claim to be, then give me this chance. If I’m wrong, then you can set off the bomb.

Everyone agrees with the plan. Keith and Kosmo teleport to where the Creature is. When the Creature seems them he recognizes Kosmo and charges. They teleport away but only a few inches from where they were.  The Creature charges and they teleport again. They continue this pattern until they reach the bridge.

Shiro’s second bayard upgrade is a shield cause he’s totally the Captain America of the group. Lahn is behind Hunk while Narti stays with Pidge. When the Creature is in the center of the room, Keith stands in front of the door and puts his shield up. Everyone is tense. The Creature realizes there is no way of escaping the circle and panics. It roars and thrashes around the bridge. Its extra limbs glow and tries to blast it’s way out of the circle. Lance hesitantly activates his bayard. Narti smacks it with her tail, he squawks indignantly, she reveals her two tongues to him and he shuts up. The magenta pulses of its blast is suddenly subdued by a pale-blue almost white glow. The particles of light seem to distract the Creature, who’s staring at them in curiosity. (Take a guess who did that lol)

Narti floats over Pidge’s shield and reaches a hand towards the Creature again. The Creature fears its a trap and tries to scare her again. Narti strokes its face again. The reason why the Creature is so calm towards her is because Narti was soothing him with her telepathy. To truly defeat a monster, one needs to have the courage to understand. Unlike the other passengers, Narti understands what it’s like to be in a foreign environment where everyone’s against you. She’s felt that way for hundreds of years because of her half-breed status. The Creature is completely calm, but it will only listen to Narti. 

Shiro: I guess that means we’re taking him with us.

Hunk: I wonder if we can teach him to play fetch...

They all jetpack out of the Ranveig’s ship and into the Lions. Pidge feels nervous comparing the Creatures size and mass to her Lions but Narti reassures her that the Creature won’t cause them to slow down. She then notices that the Lion’s are further away then where they stopped them but chalks it up to the lack of gravity. (It wasn’t cause of the gravity Pidge) They make their way back to Planet Ryker. 

Lahn swears his allegiance to the Voltron Coalition. He calls for Narti to step forward, shocking Acxa in the audience. While he is grateful for Team Voltron’s assistance, he wants to honor Narti especially. Like all Galra, he thought that half-breeds did nothing but bring shame upon the Empire. Her patience and abilities as well as Keith accepting that he was at fault allowed him to see them in a new light. He bows before them and says “Vrepit Sa.” Narti and Keith repeat the action. 

Narti catches Acxa calling her name in her head and runs to her. The two half Galra women embrace. Narti tries to tell her what really happened when Lotor struck her but they’re both too overwhelmed by emotions to keep talking. Team Voltron smiles at the sight. There is small scene where Krolia embraces Keith too, Kolivan pats him on the back. The Creature, thanks to Narti, now is slowly starting to open up to the Galra. They offer them fresh food goo that they happily devour. 

Allura welcomes Warlord Lahn to the ATLAS, he offers them any assistance in their search. (Because the Galra are really pushed to the background once Honerva became the main antagonist) Allura points out that those that have been liberated by Voltron are now back under Galran control after the Empire collapsed. Lahn admits that freeing all of them will take a while. 

Shiro doesn’t like where the conversation is going. He voices that really doesn’t want to split up the team. Especially with a threat like Honerva out there. The Paladins don’t want to be separated from Allura either considering what happened before. Unfortunately, it’s a sacrifice they have to make. Allura tells the bridge that she’ll stay with the Paladins, her alchemy might be needed if anyone is injured. They all embrace Coran and Adam and promise to keep communications open as much as possible. 

But...one more night on the ATLAS couldn’t hurt anyone. Allura has yet another dream, this time it’s the dream from the episode Clear Day. Instead of being separate visions from the entity, they’re all combined into one. The vision of Melenor in the juniberry field and where she eventually ashes away is where the dream transitions to Lotor in Sincline saying “Follow me!” and shows Voltron standing with the colony planets. She wakes with a cold sweat. The Space Mice ask her if she’s alright and she smiles tiredly and tells them to go back to sleep. (A soft rendition of Sincline’s theme should play here)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Guys, I turned the foreshadowing with Lotor all the up to 3000 in this episode with the monster and Lahn. The half-breed conflict should not only reflect Keith and Narti but the rest of the lady Generals and Lotor as well, further splitting the audience of where his allegiance was. Because there’s no such thing as a bad person or good person when it comes to being biracial. 

Hazar was a character in Vehicle Voltron that served as the main person in power on the villains side, although they weren’t villains cause they were looking for a new planet to colonize. Thematic hmmmmmmm maybe

Narti being alive was something I always secretly wanted. I mean they make some deaths in this series really graphic *cough*LOTOR*cough* but Narti got off pretty light. It only showed Haggar’s vision through her eyes disappear and then cut back to her laying on the floor. If played right, the writers can simply have her be, like in this rewrite, knocked out to come back to at a later time. And she was my favorite out of the Generals sorry not sorry. Her powers were so cool!

With her still kicking ass, Lotor’s goal of preserving life is brought back. It adds more conflict to the audience about Lotor. “He spared her life so that makes him a good person right?” “But he drained hundreds of Alteans remember?” “Oh yeah, but I don’t know about that anymore...” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 4: Battle Scar~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We open with Team Voltron in space. Pidge is trying to track a Komar and it leads them to Olkarion. However, it’s completely drained of Quintessence and there’s a Weblum already devouring it. Pidge is horrified at the sight and immediately tries to shoot the Weblum down. Keith and Hunk, using their experience from collecting scultrite, convince her to fall back. The Weblum completely envelops Olkarion and flies away afterwards. Thinking Ryner and the rest of the Olkari are gone, Team Voltron is devastated. They fly closer to Green.

Keith: We’re here for you, Pidge. It’s okay.

(I think it’s very important that Keith is the first to say something. He knows a thing a two from losing someone important to you. Plus, it shows how much he’s matured since being The Loner of the group)

Pidge thanks them for their support. She says that they should continue looking for Honerva. Allura then senses something close by, she calls out to them. There’s no response. She tries to use Blue’s sonic cannon to amplify her call. But...Blue doesn’t respond. Lance jokingly says that Blue prefers him over her now and tries to activate her sonic cannon. No response. The two are confused.

Lance: Is anyone else having trouble with their Lions? Blue’s not responding.

Hunk: I thought I was the only one! Yellow hasn’t responded since we touched down on Planet Ryker.

Keith: Red’s been having technical difficulties but we still get the job done.

Pidge: Same with Green. I have keep manually inputting information that I know is stored in her database.

Shiro’s the only one who doesn’t experience any problems. However, they can’t call further attention to it because a familiar squishy asteroid splashes against Blue. Lance alerts the other Paladins, hopeful. The Paladins remember their first encounter with the Olkarion so they know that the asteroid carries a coded message. Pidge quickly deciphers it and the message is revealed: That the citizens of Olkarion managed to successfully escape the Komar. (pretty sure there were other aliens with them because it was the Coalitions base of operations) and are currently in need of fuel. Hunk and Pidge quickly punch in the coordinates the message carried and discover that they’re not as far away as they initially thought. 

The Lions eventually find the Olkarion ships using cloaking devices and give them an escort back to Planet Ryker. The Olkarion are hesitant to be on the same base occupied by the Galra. Allura does her diplomatic thing and comes up with a compromise between everyone: the Olkarion can use their interfaces to build more shelters for the Galra and the Galra will help with more of the manual labor because of the limited flora. However, she and the other Paladins notice that some of the citizens are acting more colder towards them then Lahn’s forces. Some of them are even glaring at the Lions. One in particular could destroy the Lions with his murderous gaze alone. He’s the same Olkari that King Lubos kept as a servant during Commander Branko’s reign. (uh oh...)

When the Paladins are abruptly called to a boardroom meeting, they bring Ryner with her because she’s the Olkari’s leader. But when they enter the boardroom, they immediately feel the tension. Everyone’s eyes are on them. Commander Iverson tells them to take a seat, Allura asks why the sudden meeting. He says that Commander Hazar has some information that he would like to share with the rest of the council. He’s sitting at the table alongside Lahn.

Hazar tells them that he worked closely with Lotor after he was crowned Emperor. He tells them that Lotor revealed to him his plan, which was offering pure Quintessence to placate the Empire. While it’s not a shock to Team Voltron, it is to the Coalition. Hazar demands why Voltron, after forming an alliance with Lotor and helping him light his fire at the Kral Zera, would betray and potentially murdered him. A murder of an Emperor by an opposing force is considered the most heinous crime. If they really are heroes, why did they do it?

Keith tells the abridged version of the story he told the team in Season 6. Romelle takes over halfway through.

Romelle: You might not believe me because I’m Altean, but understand. You’ve hunted down my people for 10,000 years. (Team Voltron cringes at that) We thought Lotor was better than you but...he was much, much worse. He committed atrocious acts towards my family. My mother, father, brother, friends...they were all destroyed by him.

Lahn: That doesn’t make sense. Did you not say that he saved you?

Romelle: No. He doomed us all. The second colony was draining Alteans of their quintessence.

Second shock to the Coalition. Hazar asks if they have proof of their claim. Romelle says that Keith and Krolia were there with her. Keith confirms this. But Hazar asks if Lotor admitted to draining their quintessence. Romelle doesn’t answer that, only repeating that they saw their bodies in the pods. Lance admits that they didn’t let him talk and cornered him after he and Allura returned from the Rift. Then ashamedly mentions Allura fired the Blue on him when he tried to subdue the conflict. They fought with him in the Rift and had no choice but to leave him there. Then they had to sacrifice the original Castle of Lions to close the rifts in the realities Lotor opened. Pidge guesses that’s when the time dilation probably happened. After they dealt with him, the Voltron Coalition was weakened and Earth was invaded. Allura speaks on behalf of Team Voltron admits that this was their mistake and apologizes to the Coalition for leaving them vulnerable.

However, Romelle refuses to admit that she might be in the wrong. Hazar pokes holes in her accusation; “If you only saw the bodies and Emperor Lotor didn’t say that he drained them, then is he truly guilty?”

Romelle: Yes! We don’t need to hear his side of the story! He would spin lie after lie to save himself! If it weren’t for us, he would’ve drained the rest of my colony! And then drained the rest of us!

Lahn: You don’t know that because you did not subjugate him to a fair trial. While we Galra do believe in ‘Victory or Death’ we also believe that if the choice was death, it must be earned. Either in battle or by trial. You did none of that. You forced the choice of death upon him!

Romelle: It’s what he deserves after destroying so many lives!

Narti signs that Lotor always put preserving life above everything else. When they invaded Puig to draw out the Paladins they only left injuries, never bodies. The same with every planet he conquered. ‘Your accusation doesn’t make sense.’ Romelle demands to know why she’s defending him. Narti says she’s not defending him, she’s doubting her claim. Acxa remains silent throughout the meeting, clenching her fist. Veronica and Keith notice but neither call her out. 

Romelle: Why is this even a discussion? What we do about Lotor doesn’t matter. He’s gone forever. We can all rest easy knowing that another threat to the galaxy has been slain by the hero Voltron.

Allura slams her hands against the table, causing it to dent, her hands softly glowing. Everyone stares at her, concerned at the display of power. “This meeting is adjourned. Everyone leave now.”

Team Voltron is left alone in the boardroom (Probably regretting everything because regret seems to be another thing our heroes don’t have in the series) No one speaks as the rest of them file out. Iverson stares at Allura, Veronica is concerned, Colleen and Sam are heartbroken, Hazar remains blank-faced as he leaves, Ryner is a bit more uneasy. The MFE’s feel awkward, uncomfortable, and bounce. Adam and Shiro have a little moment.

Shiro: Do you still trust me?

Adam: Of course I do...but I think this is something you six have to talk about.

Shiro: Wait for me?

Adam nods and walks out.

Acxa and Narti have a disagreement in the halls concerning the Paladins confession. The revelation of Lotor’s secret weighs heavy on them. Acxa wants to completely move on from her past and cut out Lotor for good, telling her that he’s not the noble prince he claimed to be. She feels betrayed because she had looked up to him. And now that there were things he even kept from them...Narti tells her she’s wrong. She’s read his mind. She knows that everything he’s said to them had been true. Acxa tells her if Lotor lied to them about the colony. Narti admits that he has lied a few times, but it’s so that its existence wouldn’t reach Zarkon and Haggar. 

Acxa: Maybe Lotor knew that you found out. Did you read his mind when he attacked you? Did he really mean to knock you unconscious? Or is this one of the rare occasions he swings and misses?

(Because two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead) Narti is insulted that a close friend would insinuate such a thing and walks away. Acxa realizes her mistake and pulls her back, saying she didn’t mean it. Narti tells her she knows. They rest their foreheads against each other, a Galra gesture of friendship, and go back to their bunker to talk more.

Back to Team Voltron. Lance rubs his face with his hands, “Is anyone gonna say it? Anyone? No one? Okay, guess I’ll do the honors: It’s our fault the universe is this way.”

The Paladins have their typical dispute about who’s fault it really is. Keith blames himself. Just like with Ranvieg’s monster, he was acting impulsively and jumped to conclusions. If he had let Lotor talk instead of just barging in at the Castle of Lions, the conflict would’ve been resolved much more quickly and peacefully. He suddenly realizes that with all his argument against Lahn that he was still Galra, he didn’t give Lotor the same treatment. The only other person he could relate to, another half-Galra. The person he thwarted the Blades plans for, the person he rescued during the Kral Zera, the Empire’s newest hope for peace...he’s gone. He clenches his fists together again. “Quiznak...”

Pidge thinks that Lotor’s still at fault. She’s 15 and she’s been through a lot of things. However, this time, she knows that there must be another side of the story. If they were going off the theory that Lotor was doing something other than draining their quintessence, he still should’ve come clean. This is a call back to the episode in the first season ‘Return of the Gladiator’ when she first accuses Shiro of hurting her brother when she only had a single prisoner recounting his experiences as proof. “This is just like when I accused Shiro of hurting Matt. Except a thousand times worse...”

Lance still blames Lotor, but his perspective changes the longer he thinks. Most would think that the blame is still stemming from his jealousy but it’s more on the fact that Lotor broke Allura’s heart. Even if his own heart was rejected by Allura, he can still care for her when she’s hurt. He thinks about how they all agreed to offer Lotor to Zarkon in exchange for Sam Holt. While he was thinking on instinct, he realizes what a horrible decision that was. He also has an epiphany that he was never Allura’s choice to begin with. If it had been between him and Lotor, Allura would’ve definitely picked Lotor. He feels really, really bad for advocating to leave him in the Rift. “Guys, we really messed up.”

Hunk blames Romelle, to everyone’s shock. When asked why, Hunk explains that to the rest of the team (besides Keith and Krolia), Romelle was a total and complete stranger. They didn’t know anything about her besides that she was Altean. Even if she did claim to know Lotor, they shouldn’t have taken her word so quickly over his. He supports Hazar’s argument, remembering more of his lessons with Dayak at Central Command. “Galra trials and interrogations have always been successful, it’s one of the reasons why the managed to take over as much territory as they did. IF we were gonna accuse him of draining those Alteans. We should have honored Galra tradition brought him there and gave him a fair trial. It’s the least we owed him after we treated him so badly at the Castle.”

Shiro fairly points out that this is a rare occasion where all parties are to blame. Keith only had Romelle to back up his story and even she admitted she didn’t know the entire story. The rest of the Paladins still had the choice to not believe them. It left the team vulnerable, emotional state, which led them to act on instinct instead of taking a step back to see what’s wrong. Keith points out that Shiro had nothing to do with it, it was his clone that present and then attacked them. Shiro says Kuron was being controlled by Honerva, forcing him to do all the things that he did. He says he still has Kuron’s memories and experiences, which is how he learned about Project Kuron. And it also means he saw and heard everything that occurred during their ambush on Lotor. “Look, I’m not mad at any of you. I’m disappointed. In you and in myself. If we had thought of other options besides point your bayards at him, the conflict would’ve gone over much smoother.

Allura’s significantly quiet during the whole thing. She harbor’s the most guilt out of all of them. If she had behaved more rationally, more like a leader, when Romelle accused him, he wouldn’t have been left in the Rift. However, she was so used to being alone. Coran was her only connection to Altea. When Lotor showed up, she refused to even look at him. After he killed Zarkon and ascended to the Galra throne during the Kral Zera, she felt like things might change if someone like him was at the helm. His Altean heritage didn’t matter to her, although it did pique her interest to his possible alchemic abilities. And then during their construction of the Sincline, she fell in love with him. Which is why the betrayal hurt more. Not Lotor’s betrayal. Her betrayal of him. She can’t accept any other story because they’re just excuses for them to feel better. 

Swap over to the hostile Olkarion outside. Some of them are packing their things, some of them are already boarding the Olkarion ships. The most shocking sight is them aiming their plant blasters at everyone else. Ryner runs to them and demands to know what’s going on. The Olkarion that was glaring at the Lions tells her that they’re leaving to find a real home. One that isn’t tainted by the Galra. Ryner says their enemy is not the Galra. The Olkarion (Let’s call him...Luben) retorts that she’s right: the Galra are not their enemy. Voltron is. 

Ryner: What are you saying, Luben!?

La-sai: Voltron gave the galaxy hope 10,000 years ago. And then they disappeared. We suffered, our children were never gifted a galaxy at peace. And when they reemerged we finally had hope again. But then they too abandoned the galaxy. Abandoned us. They led that...abomination to destroy our home. They’re no better than the Galra!

Hazar approaches him, clawed hands up in surrender. He asks La-sai to put his weapon down. Seeing a Galra, he angrily fires his rifle, grazing Hazar’s shoulder and starts spamming shots at him. Lahn tries to shot him unconscious. The rogue Olkari + other aliens start openly firing on Lahn’s troops and the Garrison staff. Some of the Olkarion ships take off. The Galra try to get into their fighters but Lahn tells them to stand down. They can’t waste their resources or risk the lives of citizens. La-sai scoffs. 

Iverson reports hostile activity to the boardroom. Allura asks if its another Komar, Iverson says no and that the hostile activity is coming from the Olkarion. Shiro tells the Paladins to get to their Lions. Iverson says that he has the MFE’s ready to launch. Allura tells him not to do that, explaining that this is Voltron’s problem. "This is our fault. We have to face the consequences or we’ll never fulfill Voltron’s purpose.” She says she’ll meet him at the bridge when she’s ready. 

The Paladins get into their Lions and Black is the first to take off. The other Lions are slower but the eventually catch up. They chase after the ships, but they don’t fire on them because of the citizens on board. And also cause the Lions are not completely following their Paladins. Instead they try to box them in and force them to land. The rogue Olkarions form canons on their ships and fire on the Lion’s. Vines entangle the Lions but they persevere. Red suddenly turns up its body temperature and uses its rail gun to burn them off, scaring the other Paladins. Keith says that wasn’t him. They have no choice but to keep them in the air, preventing as many casualties as they can. The Paladins try to talk the rogue Olkari down while simultaneously trying to get back in rhythm with their Lions. La-sai beats it in their heads that it’s their fault that their people suffered. 

Shiro tries to get the team to form Voltron, but the Lions don’t respond. “Uh, I’m not the only one not feeling that Voltron feeling am I?” Hunk asks. The Lions are no longer responding to their Paladins but they’re still boxing the rogue Olkari ships. They’re functioning on their own now. Hunk then wonders if the Lions are mad at them for what they did to Lotor. Lance dejectedly says that’s probably it. They both barely miss a shot from La-sai’s ship, Blue and Yellow hitting a hard reverse and forcing Hunk and Lance. Red and Green abandon formation, Keith and Pidge shouting at the sudden unnatural actions.

La-sai then breaks the Olkari formation and fires on the Lions separately. They’re overwhelmed. The only Paladin keeping a close bond with their Lion, Shiro is forced to go after Luben alone while the others try close in on the other ships. Luben taunts him.

La-sai: Oh, I remember you, Champion. The Galra Empire’s prized gladiator. I should’ve known you would run back to them.

Shiro (winces at the flashbacks): I’m not their Champion anymore! I’m not Honerva’s toy! I am the Black Paladin of Voltron! I am their leader! And I won’t let you hurt them or anyone else!

La-sai: You think you’re such a noble Paladin. You’re a monster! I saw every gladiator fight broadcast, King Lubos’ always watched them to entertain himself while I was forced to watch you. I saw you slay every opponent you faced. Galra, Balmera, Puigans, even Olkarion! My people! As if we didn’t lose enough to this war! You’re not worthy of commanding Voltron anymore than your friends down there!

The rest of the Paladins interrupts them through the comms while the Lions dodge the plant lasers, trying to defend him. Shiro realizes they’re doing the same thing they did in the boardroom, trying to find some other explanation to feel better. He can’t really fault them cause they’re kids but with things like the entire universe weighing on their decisions, they can’t afford to do that anymore. So instead of supporting them and further ignoring his trauma, Shiro accepts it.

Shiro: You’re right! (the Paladins quiet) I did what I did in those gladiator matches! And not a day goes by that I don’t regret every. single. strike. I’ve hurt people trying to survive. I really did. My team might defend me until their last breath, but it won’t change that I’m guilty. B-But...I know things have changed. I’ve changed. I’ve become a better person. Voltron, the Black Lion, this team...they gave me a chance to redeem myself for everything I’ve done. They became my rock throughout our journey. Even when I died, they held out hope that I would come back. And I would do everything I can to make sure they’re safe. Whatever it takes. Because I love all of them.

La-sai (scoffs): We loved you, the universe loved you. Loved Voltron. We welcomed you with open arms. You fought against the Galra. You were freeing the galaxy, protecting those who were once enslaved. And then you abandoned us! How many planets, how many families, how many lives, were destroyed because of your selfishness!? 

Shiro: How many lives will you destroy today? If you hurt anyone on this base, then you’ll become just like Commander Branko. He hurt thousands of your people just so he could have a weapon to enforce Zarkon’s rule further. If you destroy this base, you destroy our chance at rebuilding a better universe. 

La-sai: Voltron was supposed to rebuild the universe. You were supposed to save us from the Galra! You were supposed to end all of this!

Allura (over the ATLAS’ comms): Voltron is many things, but it cannot destroy the war itself. It is but a beacon, a symbol, powered by an ancient magic. Voltron can fight all the battles it wants to in this war, but it is ultimately the people’s decision to truly end it. Do you remember when we first arrived on your planet? You had all retreated to the woods, calling out for a savior with your asteroids. Voltron might’ve answered the call, but it was yours and Ryner’s decision to finally step out of the shadows and take back what was stolen from you. The Olkari knew when they learned of King Lubos’ betrayal that they deserved better than what he could offer. It was the combined efforts of them and Voltron that set the Olkari free from their chains. That is why the Voltron Coalition was formed. Because we can’t save the universe alone. We need help. We need allies. We need friends who are willing to risk everything to stop Honerva! 

La-sai: Allies? Friends!? You would put your trust in the Galra!? After all they’ve done to you? To your people? I remembered how hostile you were towards the Galra. One might say even hateful. What changed? Did they implant a device in you like they did to the Champion?

The Lions stop moving, the Paladins tense. They know that Allura’s been through more pain from the Galra then any of them. Her planet, her people, her culture lost. She hasn’t been kind to them either. From her xenophobic attitude towards Ulaz and the Blades, to her blatant disregard of Keith when he was revealed to be part Galra, and then when she thought she finally had someone to connect with in Lotor, he supposedly betrayed her. And then after all of that, Sendak invaded Earth, a result of their actions against Lotor. Everyone on the bridge looks at Allura. She closes her eyes, inhales deeply, and speaks.

Allura: I understand your frustration upon learning my new perspectives. I too was aghast that there were Galra fighting against Zarkon. But I was so blinded by my rage, by my loss, that I couldn’t truly appreciate their efforts. Now, after spending many battles fighting by their side...I see them for who they truly are. The Red Paladin, Keith Kogane, is half-Galra and one of my closest friends, who I treasure as my family along with the rest of the Paladins. Kolivan, Krolia, Regris, Thace, Antok, Ulaz, and the Blades of Marmora, they all believed in a better universe. And they took it into their hands to make that a possibility. This war has also taken things from them as well. Homes, families, this war started with the destruction of Planet Daibazaal... Warlord Lahn was once against our cause, but then he saw first hand how we all banded together as one, and he too saw that possibility. I urge you to look past your anger, past your hate, and understand that there are Galra who want this to end as much as you do.

(Damn, Allura just went full Daenerys Targaryen there)

The crowd beneath the Lions are listening to Allura’ speech, understanding why Shiro gave her command of the ATLAS. Some of the rogue Olkarion regain their senses and slowly land. La-sai is disgusted by their supposed betrayal and arms his ship with more plant cannons. He fires on the Lions. Yellow’s armor activates and leaps in front of the blasts. The Olkarion use their interfaces to form shields with the unused ships. Some of the Galra group together to protect the other aliens. Meanwhile, Green tries to fire its plant canon at La-sai’s ship and barely grazes the wing. 

Hearing the words of from the head and heart of Voltron, the Lions open their connection to their Paladins again. Hunk nearly cries with joy. They form Voltron and follow La-sai. He steeply flies up and into the upper atmosphere.

The Paladins continue to chase La-saibut Pidge tells them to stop when she realizes he’s too far gone. They fly back to the base. For the second time, Team Voltron is heartbroken, realizing that even though they have the most powerful weapon in the universe, they can’t save everyone they care about. What hurts more is that La-sai is right. They land and the ATLAS crew is there to provide support. A short time-skip happens after La-sai’s abandonment, nights falls on Planet Ryker. A small bustle of activity happens underneath the ATLAS, the numerous aliens and humans discussing housing arrangements between Lahn’s base and the ATLAS. 

Looking over the courtyard, Team Voltron discusses what happened today with the Lions. Keith says that he can feel the bond between him and Red is slowly starting up. The other Paladins tell similar stories. Shiro hugs and congratulates them for their accomplishment. Allura voices her relief as well and asked what changed. “I guess finally admitting we were wrong helped.” Keith says. His eyes drift over to Romelle, who’s starting to pull away from the activities. Her eyes narrow at Lahn and Hazar going over schematics of their base. Keith looks at her with a worried expression, Lance rests his hand over his shoulder.

Lance is in awe that they’re all working together so seamlessly, directing attention to them. Keith questions his words. Lance clarifies that while the Voltron Coalition was a united front against the Galra, he still noticed some prejudices. “Now...now, they’re working as well as we do.”

Ryner: Loss can bring even the greatest of foes together.

She approaches Team Voltron. Pidge is the first to speak, tears in her eyes, “I’m so, so, so sorry, Ryner. This is all our fault.” Bebe rubs his head against her side.

Ryner: It’s alright, Pidge. This is how life works. Some plants flourish, others wither. Sometimes we’re in control, other times it spirals out of our hands. It’s how we learn and do better. Become better than what we were. We will learn from our mistakes and grow stronger. 

Team Voltron agrees and goes down to help. The episode ends the Galra lighting little lanterns and releasing them into the sky. Keith asks his mother why they’re doing that. “It’s a Galra gesture of peace.To light a lantern means to light a new flame for oneself, to start over with.” Keith gets an idea and convinces the rest of the team to light lanterns too. The Lions look over at the sight, growling softly in approval.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seems the theme of making up for your mistakes is making itself known in the season. Every story has it’s ups and downs. When The Prisoner’s Dilemma was a more positive ending, this episode has a more negative conclusion to contrast and to keep the characters and audience more alert.

This was actually the hardest episode to rewrite, between cutting down the Olkarion plot and inserting a brand new one to fill in the remaining time. While some of the people who worked on Avatar also worked on this show, VLD deals with a lot more mature themes for its young audience. ie. genocide, mass death tolls in Season 4, racism, torture, PTSD, possible metaphors for drug addiction the list could go on. With an episode titled Battle Scars, I wanted to show how the endless cycle of battles from both Voltron and the Galra are affecting the citizens. I tried to make this episode a commentary on the cycle of war.

Naturally, I went for the Olkari. Another thing that bothered me with this episode and with VLD as a whole was this is yet another Pidge centric episode. Not to hate on her, I love my Pidgeon, but I know the executives are extremely biased towards her. So instead on focusing on her sole relationship with the Olkari, I expanded it to the rest of Team Voltron. They’re one of Team Voltron’s closest allies and one of the main players against Zarkon in Season 2. Now, after three-four years of running, with their planet destroyed, and their trust broken a second time, they’ve become disillusioned with Voltron and grow in their hate towards the Galra. They want revenge on their own terms, Luben especially because of his previous imprisonment. This also echos Honerva’s manipulations of the Alteans. 

The title Battle Scars also represents what those scars are to a person. Making them stronger. This is the case with Team Voltron’s apology to the Coalition, the following discussion, and Shiro and Allura’s speeches to Luben. The Galra took everything from her, yet she learned to not fault all of them. She became the leader she is now because she moved on from those scars. She accepts the Blade and Keith as her family now. Shiro has a different lesson, he accepts that he has scars. He’s not proud of them but he accepts the trauma. To truly recover, you have to first admit that it happened to you. Doing so helped his relationship with Adam and strengthened his relationship with the Paladins. 

And this is even more apparent with the Lions, the Lions aren’t mad at the Paladins, they’re mad at themselves. It’s why they still follow their plan of boxing in the rogue Olkari but not connecting to their Paladins. They were created to bring peace to war-torn universe, instead they made it worse. Seeing them learn their lesson from Shiro and Allura helped them regain confidence to form Voltron again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 5: The Grudge~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lahn’s troops are slowly warming up to the ATLAS crew. To the point where they are challenging each other to friendly competitions in the gym. Iverson is currently competing in a push up contest with Hazar’s sister, Dorma (More Vehicle Voltron!). Adam and Curtis are keeping score. Veronica was cheering for Iverson but switches sides when she sees Dorma pull some cool moves. It ends with Iverson tapping out and lying on the mat, exhausted. Dorma commends him on his stamina before walking away to join some other Galra. Some Olkarion are in the gym too, dissecting the gym equipment and wondering what they could do to make them more effective.

The conversation about pets still happens with the addition of Adam. Adam admits that he never had any pets before, the closest thing was Marble. He says that that wasn’t really her name but Shiro always called her that because she was a calico and her coat reminded him of the marble pillars in New Kyoto and it sort of stuck. Curtis and Veronica awe over the story. 

Curtis sees Acxa alone doing the same sick push ups Dorma did and in an attempt to know her better asks if she had any pets. Acxa instead explains Narti’s bond with Kova in the typical intense Galra fashion, scaring Curtis. Somewhere in the gym the Garrison Quartet hear someone growling, agreeing with Acxa. Turns out it’s Narti, hanging from the ceiling by her tail. She lands in the middle of the pseudo-circle they’ve formed, her tail swishing around, Kova on her shoulder. She tucks it away after accidentally knocking Iverson down. 

“Keep that tail of yours under control!” Narti does the Galra salute as an apology. Kova hisses. She signs (Acxa translating) that she was grateful that Lotor gave her Kova. Kova has been there for him since childhood and yet he decided that she needed it more than him. Kova purrs as Narti scratches his ears.

Veronica asks if this is the same Emperor Lotor that attacked her. Narti says that he really didn’t. Before she could clarify, Coran calls everyone to the bridge to receive the Paladin’s latest transmission.

The Paladin’s say that they have a possible lead on Honerva and they’re going to check it out. (The decoy messages are still kept but our ATLAS crew is smarter in this rewrite lol)

The lunch conversation is kept the same with the addition of Narti + Kova. Kova hisses at the MFE’s when there isn’t a seat for Narti. She assures him that its fine and props herself on her tail. When Leifsdottir points out that it’s their Galra lineage makes everyone’s uncomfortable, Kova hisses again. Narti then signs that it’s not their lineage but everyone’s reaction to it that makes everyone uncomfortable. Acxa further explains that their status wasn’t...appreciated by the rest of the Empire.

Narti (snarkily signing): I don’t think we’re appreciated at this table either

Acxa: You’re right, Narti. We’ll take our leave now.

They do and the MFE’s look down in embarrassment. Veronica rightly scolds them and goes to find them.

Team Voltron recognizes that they’ve been tricked when Pidge points out the low oxygen levels. Shiro immediately tells them to get airborne. Hunk catches a glimpse of the hologram ATLAS and yells that they’re close. Unfortunately, the Lions still get caught in the ships traction beam. 

Pidge doesn’t tell Hunk to shut up because they’re all friends and friends don’t let things like single-modulation piss them off that badly. (Bex’s line delivery in this scene bothered me. It sounded less jokey and more ‘shut the fuck up’) When she tells them they need to remove their armor and bayards to prevent being detected, everyone points out that Shiro needs his bayard. It’s his literal right arm. Pidge realizes her mistake but can’t find another way with the time they have. Hunk proposes the idea that maybe Allura can use her alchemy to hide them. Allura says she can’t do that.

Allura: Altean alchemy connects us to living beings, as you can see, this planet does not hold any life. If I use my alchemy to hide us, it will restore the life of the planet and reveal our location.

Shiro says he’ll just have to last long enough to get his bayard back. He removes it and places it on the pile, fully preventing any detection and capture from the pirates. “Your safety is more important than my arm.”

Acxa and Veronica’s talk is same because its perfect.

Narti bonds with the MFE pilots when she notices them playing a card game in one of the recreational rooms. They might not fully understand Space Sign Language, but they know what she means when she points to the cards and then to herself. Kova doesn’t hiss but he moves away when the MFE’s try to pet him. Narti writes on a spare tablet that it’s normal for him. While they do have a familiar connection, Kova still acts out on his own, her emotions don’t dictate his actions and vice versa. 

Griffin asks if it’s true she can read minds. ‘Yes it’s true.’ Her voice echos in there heads. Her people are well-developed telepaths, it’s what made them such formidable opponents. They can prevent nearly any disaster just by skimming their thoughts. As eveident with Throk, she can also control someone for a short period of time. At the MFE’s horrified expressions, she chitters and says she won’t do that to any of them.

Narti: Although, I can’t promise not peeking at your cards...

Griffin: Oh, it’s on!

Swap back to Team Voltron and, oh yeah, Allura can still find the Lions. But because they left their armor and bayards, they can’t successfully break in or out of the ship that’s carrying them. They’re bombarded by lasers and they’re separated into pairs. Shiro and Lance, Keith and Hunk, Pidge and Allura.

Meanwhile on the bridge, Ryner manages to fully decipher the decoy messages and deduces that the person producing them is an Olkarion, correctly guessing that it’s La-sai. She takes a few seconds to pinpoint the location of the real Paladins. Coran tells Lahn to gather his troops, Lahn’s way ahead of him.

Switch back to the pairs. Lance talks about his feelings, Shiro understands and starts to suspect something. Lance says that he thought that Allura really did like him back during Sendak’s invasion. He doesn’t just feel insecure, he feels like he’s unworthy of the positions he’s held. He’s the youngest in his family, he feels like has to stand out to some people. But lately, he feels less and less comfortable slipping into ‘Loverboy Lance’. He doesn’t want to put up the act of being a ladies man anymore. Not after being rejected by Allura as both his loverboy persona (constantly) and his genuine nice guy persona back on Earth. Shiro comforts him like the amazing Space Dad he is. “You are Lance McClain, the Blue Paladin, once the right hand of Voltron. You’re our sharpshooter. Don’t think for a second you’re not worthy of a spot on this team.” 

Lance: I knew that name would catch on. 

Shiro: You insisted you were one. And look at you now.

They smile. When the pirates come for them, Shiro gets caught first. Lance uses his physicality to hide in a tree trunk. He takes down a pirate and uses the vacant rifle to free Shiro. When charging head-first backfires on Lance, Shiro uses his left arm to dive for the pirates legs and knocks him off his feet.

Hunk tells Keith that it might be too late but he’s really sorry for what he said during the Weblum mission (since he never does...). He didn’t know how to cope with everything happening to them and kinda took it out on Keith when his heritage was revealed. Keith thanks Hunk for his words and they hug. Keith hugging Hunk freely shows that Keith can open up to more than just his immediate family. It’s also a sweet reprise of Hunk hugging Keith. (I really liked their little bonding moment hehe in Season 7 and I wanted to showcase that a bit more) He tells him that they’ve really come a long way since driving his hoverbike away from the Garrison. “Yeah, and now we’re saving the universe with them!” They’re surrounded by pirates, Hunk hurls rocks at them and tackles them when they’re distracted. Keith uses his Galra strength + a fighting maneuver Kolivan taught him to take down a particularly big pirate. 

Hunk: Dude! That was amazing! You gotta teach me some of those moves!

Keith: Only if you teach me how to play Stack-A-Ton!

Hunk: Deal!

Yay! More girl bonding! Allura tells Pidge about the voice she heard at the Garrison. Pidge says that it’s normal for people to think they’re hearing someone after life-threatening events. She asks if she can identify who was speaking, saying that it might help the voice disappear. Allura says she has a good idea but she doesn’t want to tell them yet. Not until she’s absolutely sure. Pidge says its okay and to take all the time she needs. They take down the pirates using Allura’s shape-shifting and Pidge’s craftiness. Allura changing herself to a bigger size and Pidge using their superior weight and height against them. “I love being small!” 

The ATLAS shows up. Everyone cheers. “CORAN RESCUE!”

On arrival, Lahn’s forces take down the Space Pirates with ease, taking down the ships and freeing the Lions. The Lions find the 2 out of the three 3 pairs so they can put their armor back on. Allura carries Hunk and Keith’s bayards. Yellow opens its mouth and briefly allows Allura to pilot.

When they bring La-sai to the ATLAS, he hurriedly tells that their leader wants to destroy Voltron Paladin by Paladin. When Adam asks why, La-sai says that their leader had a ‘score to settle with them’. He thought that they carried the same vendetta he did, to take revenge on those who wronged them. That’s why he gave them information about the ATLAS. But he didn’t realize that the leader wanted to destroy them for good. Acxa immediately knows who the leaders are. Narti telepathically asks her if she’s sure. Acxa says she’s sure and she asks for her help to subdue them. Adam tells them that the need to move quickly if they want to do that, and also calls dibs piloting an MFE Athena Fighter. 

Everyone hears the Red Lion roar louder then ever before. “That can’t be good!” Lance shouts in the Blue Lion. Panic is evident on his face, but he knows that Keith and Hunk will hold out until they provide backup.

Our trio at the Garrison follows the Red Lion to the volcano where Ezor and Keith are fighting. Zethrid and Hunk are duking it out nearby. Allura calls out his name and chucks the Yellow Bayard at him. He catches it and starts firing on Zethrid. But Zethrid’s a tank, so those lasers do jack squat on her. She pins Hunk to the ground, his deactivated bayard the only thing between her foot and his chest. “Looks like you’re finished, Yellow Paladin.” She snarls. Hunk then remembers how his family was trapped by the Galra during Sendak’s invasion and how desperately he wanted to save them. He sees the Paladins, the ATLAS, and the Lions standing over him, his own crazy family he formed over the years.

He roars, “NO. I’M. NOT!” He gains a second heroic wind and his bayard transforms into a gigantic battle ax. Zethrid is startled and jumps back before Hunk can cut her face into green slices. 

She sees Keith slowly getting the upper hand on Ezor and bull-charges at him. Keith has Krolia’s blade and Red Bayard (Allura threw it to him during the second wind) to deflect their blows. Lance wants to use Blue’s freeze ray on them but Pidge points out that the tremors of the blast might cause the three of them to fall into the lava. In fact, the structure that they’re fighting on is too delicate for the Lions to land on. They’re stuck. Lance feels Red at the back of his mind, growing angrier. “Red, please...” Keith manages to hold the two half Galra back but Ezor kicks his feet and knocks the two weapons out of his hands. Zethrid pulls out a blaster and places it near his head, a ginormous arm around his throat.

Adam goes to immediately shoot them down but Shiro tells him to wait. Acxa and Narti reveal themselves to the couple. Zethrid and Ezor shocked that Narti’s still alive. Acxa tries to talk them down from hurting Keith. “Why?” Ezor snarls, “Because you’re in love with him?” Acxa finally tells them that no, she’s not in love with Keith. Over there battles, she came to respect him as an equal, in the battlefield as well as a half-Galra. She tells them that Keith never lost faith in her. And she’s extending that same unwavering faith to them.

Acxa: Hear my words. Remember how we first met. We were all so full of hate and rage, half-breeds rejected by the Galra.

Zethrid: Lotor used us! Used our anger to fulfill his own needs!

Ezor: He only cared about having power! Quintessence this and quintessence that!

Narti (signing and telepathically): NO! He cared about changing the Galra ways. No more conquering. No more needless violence.

Zethrid: Needless violence!? Didn’t Lotor cut you down?

Narti: No, he saved me. 

Ezor: Huh?

Narti: The witch was controlling me. I couldn’t fight back. When she saw Lotor had the trans-reality comet, she and Zarkon ordered the attack on us. Lotor knocked me out to release me from her control. He was going to come back for me after he defeated Haggar!

Zethrid: But...Lotor’s gone! (She places the gun closer to Keith’s head) They told us that. Lotor’s gone and we can’t get him back!

Narti: Maybe, but don’t make the same mistakes he did. Don’t turn to your anger.

Acxa: You’re not angry at Keith because he hurt you and Ezor...you’re hurting him because he reminds you of him. And it hurts to think about him. To think about Lotor.

(Seriously no one brings up any of their similarities in the series...) (I refuse to acknowledge JDS and LM’s comparisons of Lotor and Keith)

Zethrid and Ezor deny it. But as Narti approaches them, Ezor slowly breaks. She admits even though she hates Lotor after what happened at the Rift, she still misses him. As a leader and as her friend. And she hates it. She thought they might get closure once Voltron returned but with Lotor dead, they couldn’t get that. 

Keith starts to black out, Red roars in agitation, its rail gun forming, amplified by the volcano. The rest of the Paladins try to subdue it but it fires, stunning Zethrid and grazing her shoulder. The three of them hold on as the cliff collapses beneath them. “KEITH NO!”  Lance yells, the other Paladins horrified. They almost fall into the lava but Acxa and Narti grab on to them. Red quickly realizes what it’s done and dives into the lava underneath the rocks. Everything’s quiet. No one moves. 

Then Red slowly rises and props the rest of the cliff up so they can get to safety. The lady Generals all embrace, finally getting emotionally support they needed. Allura gently orders them to be detained. Keith is unconscious, Red butts its head against his side, wanting him to wake up. Lance jets out of Blue to prop Keith up for the stretcher.

We next see Keith lying awake on the hospital bed, a nurse checking his vitals. The doctor gently asks if he can speak. “B-B-B-” He coughs into his bandaged fist. “B-Ba-arely-y...” The doctor takes a few notes and puts a tray of rations in front of him, “Eat these before you take the painkillers. It’ll drown out the taste.” Keith thanks the doctor and slowly starts to chew on a ration. He looks down at the ration, surprised that it tastes as good as it does.

While Keith eating his rations, Lance paces outside of his room with Shiro. Krolia and Kolivan are scolding Acxa and Narti like the protective parents they are. Shiro blankly tells him he’s not helping. Lance says he knows but he still has a right to worry about Keith. Shiro agrees but admits that’s he’s never seen Lance so worried about someone. Not even for Allura. Lance confesses that when he saw Keith in Zethrid’s, grasp he was completely willing to kill her. He remembers when they were trapped on their ship and that Keith left him in charge of the team while he fought Zethrid and Ezor. Then, Shiro begins to recount how many times Keith threw his life away for the sake of the mission and how worried Lance always becomes when he does. He also tells Lance that when he and Veronica were knocked out on Earth, Keith comm calls were the loudest.

Lance doesn’t know how to feel about Keith now. He thinks that there might be something for Keith but he doesn’t believe Keith likes him back. He feels like he’s just starting to know the real Keith. Not Lone Wolf Keith he forced a rivalry on (Foreshadowing~). The Keith that knows who he is: “He’s half-Galra with a sword that can double in size, a teleporting cosmic wolf, who’s such a good pilot he can pilot two Lions, and who has my back like I have his.” He doesn’t want to ruin any that. And he’s still getting over Allura, and he knows from experience that no one wants to be a rebound. Shiro says it’s all on him and he’ll always be there lend an ear to listen to his struggles. Lance says that he always lent an ear during their missions. That’s why he’s such a dad, Lance laughs. Shiro hopes that name doesn’t stick.

Allura shows up the same time a nurse exits Keith’s room. Allura asks about Keith’s condition. The nurse says that he might have a sore throat for a few days but his mixed blood should speed up the healing process. “He’s healthy enough to see visitors.” The three Paladins sigh in relief. Shiro says that they should call the rest of their family to see him. Allura agrees but Lance rests his hand on her shoulder, out of breath, “Man, who knew pacing around the same spot a bazillion times would be so tiring?” They all laugh lightly.

The last shot of the episode is the lady Generals and La-sai in a cell together. Narti is teaching them the card game she and the MFE’s played. Kova rolls around the prison floor, finally at ease with the company around him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, hey look! More people blaming Team Voltron! This time it’s the Space Pirates. A lot of things have been rewritten in this episode. Namely, Ezor’s role. Ezor didn’t die or abandon Zethrid in this rewrite, she only lost her eye in the explosion. Because she’s still alive and kicking ass, Zethrid has no motive to take down Keith personally. 

And, yeah, we’ve have 2 canon LGBT couples in this season now. Cause apparently Dreamworks can’t afford two. Lady Generals have been reunited yay! Even tho Zethrid and Ezor were brought back to Acxa in the original season, they too had poorly timed redemption arcs. They only appear in two episodes and then are revealed to be Blades during the tacked-on epilogue slideshow. Nope, they’re getting even more screen-time after this. And hopefully I do both of them justice!  

Also more Klance development yay! And also more foreshadowing when Keith fights Ezor. Every lady General is a parallel to one of the Paladins. Three guesses as to which Paladin Ezor parallels. 

Also, with Red finally diving into a volcano, we officially checked off all the Lions for being in their respective elements and getting a power boost. Blue’s happens in The Depths when it’s revealed it can still move underwater, Green’s happens in Greening the Cub with its plant gun, Yellow’s happens in The Ark of Taujeer with the ground crumbling beneath them, and Black’s happens in Blackout with its second pair of wings/teleportation powers. Coincidentally all those happened in Season 2...

Speaking of, Lance and Allura are slowly evolving into a true BROTP and not a one-sided creepy crush.Thanks to Shiro and Adam helping Lance wade his way into the LGBT Pool, Lance can healthy express his feelings and can see the line between 'Just Friends’ and ‘Something More’. There’s a short time-skip between The Grudge and Genesis so assume that Lance visited Keith more than the rest of the group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Episode 6: Genesis~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Final episode in this rewrite and oh man, is this one a game changer! Strap in palda-dudes it’s going down!

Some major rewrites of this episode are about the White Lion. The first is that it’s essentially backed into a corner. Since it only allows Chosen Alteans to pass through, Honerva abused her status as one to force her army passage and to use its home as their base of operations. It disapproves of everything Honerva is doing. However, it can’t fight back. When it does Honerva uses her black magic/Altean alchemy and some of the Olkarion Cubes to drain its quintessence. 

Which brings us to the second rewrite concerning the White Lion; it’s the most powerful of all the Lions period. It’s the equivalent to the Phoenix Force...but, you know, a white lion and not a flaming bird lol. While I appreciate the high stakes its death would continue to establish, it also means another part of Altea is lost to Allura, Honerva, and the other Alteans. I like to think that the White Lion is another Life Giver ascended into another form, one to actually watch over Oriande and give the final test to the Chosen Alteans. Now that Honerva’s plan is in motion, she’s continuously draining the White Lion. The white hole progressively becomes more unstable as she does, which allows the Komars to pass through no problem.

Okay, so the first rewrite of this episode is that, again, Allura is the one in charge of the meeting. She’s dealt with Honerva first hand so all the information concerning the search for her is given to her first. They’re the same reports as in the original episode: four Komars have landed on four different planets and are planning to drain its quintessence to power a machine that could destroy the galaxy. Allura says that the predicted paths of the quintessence surges all lead to one place: Oriande. When asked by Adam what Oriande is, she simply says it’s the genesis of Altean alchemy and that only Chosen Alteans can enter. Coran insists that Honerva must be a Chosen Altean if she can get into Oriande. Allura darkly agrees and they proceed with the plan as the original episode does. Allura gives command of the bridge to Coran as she once again rides the Blue Lion with Lance.

Allura: The universe is facing the gravest threat it has ever seen. Honerva has exploited a vulnerable people, my people, and bent them to her will. She convinced them to pilot her abominations and commit heinous acts. And now she has built a weapon that can destroy an entire galaxy. Today, we risk our lives for the greater good. We are the only thing that can stop her and defend the universe. It is time to end this war.

(Yes, I put Allura’s speech here because I love Kimberly Brooks’ delivery so much)

When our heroes approach the white hole and the Komars fly out to take them down, the White Lion roars and tries to blast them out of the way, but then it flickers before roaring again. It’s more strangled because Honerva continues to drain more of its Quintessence, effectively stopping its attack. Allura’s Altean marks glow and she panics when she sees the White Lion disappear. Team Voltron jets out of the ATLAS (Adam tells them to kick that witches head straight) and heads into the white hole. The White Lion reappears and although it’s weak, it recognizes Allura as a Chosen Altean and allows Voltron to pass. (Lance or Hunk could remark how now it finally lets them through to lighten the mood) 

With the quintessence of the White Lion amplifying her magic, Honerva uses the teleduv to break into the Rift and retrieve Lotor. The visage of the White Lion flickers in pain again. Hira and her partner (Let’s call him...Raimon. WHOO Go Lion reference!) use their Komar’s to “defend their goddess” from Voltron. This fight happens a little differently. While the original episode had Voltron simply engaging in a typical mech fight with them, this time since Allura’s backseat (not really) piloting, she will occasionally tap into the power of one Lion to use its signature powers and upgrades to attack. 

This allows Team Voltron to regroup and think of strategies while also slowing down the Komars. The Blue Lion uses its attacks first cause Allura’s in it. First it uses its Freeze Ray to stop them in their tracks. Then it uses it’s Sonic Canon (which forms in its mouth since it’s a leg) to stun them. Yellow uses its armor for extra weight in kicks and to stabilize the formation when they’re knocked around. Green uses its plant gun to tie down the Komar. Red uses its rail gun to blind the pilots. Black uses its teleporting powers to better perform attack combos.

Meanwhile on the ATLAS, Zethrid, Ezor, and La-sai decide to break out and help. Narti overhears this in her head, opens their cell, and leads them to the bridge. Iverson, Veronica, and the rest of the crew have their blasters pointed at them. La-sai desperately pleads for forgiveness, he was just so angry, he didn’t know who to turn to. Iverson tells them to get back to their cells or they’ll fire. However, Ryner says they need as much Olkarian as they can to support the ATLAS. Allura agrees through the comms and cautiously allows La-sai to help the Olkarion boost their defenses and gives all the lady Generals access to the MFE Athena Fighters. Adam volunteers to fly too cause he’s a badass. Zethrid ends up saving Rizavi from the Komars chest beam. During the rest of the battle, the MFE pilots (and Adam) are in awe at the lady Generals reaction time and shot accuracy. Griffin even asks them to show him a couple tricks. Ezor flirtatiously says only if he shows them his own. Zethrid growls playfully at her girlfriend while firing at the Komars. Narti’s tail swishes comfortably in the cockpit while Acxa calls out battle formations with ease.

A brand new scene in this rewrite will take place in the Rift. The Sincline is still swimming around the quintessence, it swims from one spot to another. Thanks to the 3-4 years in the Rift it’s now hyper-aware and has developed new abilities. It received a signal in the form of Honerva’s attempt to open the Rift. It’s now trying to find where specifically its coming from so it could escape. Its hand twitches, unused to the feeling before it clenches into a fist. It moves forward and senses the signal is coming from Oriande. It could practically see it, and it also sees the White Lion suffering. Sincline puts maximum power on the thrusters and surges forward.

Now, back at the ATLAS, we’re with Slav and Sam this time, right after the time spillage. As Slav yells at Sam to take off his socks, another massive wave of energy comes from the white hole and knocks everybody over again. Slav massively panics and does more calculations. Sam asks why now he’s panicking.

Slav: BECAUSE THIS IS IT!

Sam: What’s it?

Slav (pressing buttons as fast as he can with his multiple arms): Remember I said something big was going to happen to us when the ATLAS took flight!?

Sam: Wait, that’s happening now!?

Slav: YeS ItS HaPpEnInG NoW! AcCoRdInG tO My CaLcUlAtIOsS tHeReS A 99.6% ChAnCE ThAT WhAtEvER ThIs iS, It WiLl ChAnGE EVeRyThInG!

Sam asks what they can do to lower those odds. Slav still insists that he needs to take off his socks. Sam finally relents but says he’ll do it after they restart the ATLAS’ functions. Slav shouts it’ll do for the time being.

Back at Oriande, Honerva screams in determination, sucking even more Quintessence out of the White Lion. Her corruption marks crack open again. The White Lion roars again, Allura tells the rest of the team to ignore the Komar’s and just charge at Honerva head on. She then uses her magic to amplify Voltron’s quintessence, the blue lines of her alchemy outlining each of the lions. They have a clear shot but before they can fire, the two Komar’s slam themselves against the Red and Green Lions, stopping them in their tracks. Allura closes her eyes and the two Lions roar, blasting the two Komar’s with their respective elements (Fire and Nature). “We have to attack now!” She screams.

It’s too late. Sincline emerges from the hole Honerva ripped through the space-time-reality thing (???) (#Voltron Science I guess). Honerva falls in exhaustion, stopping the drainage from the White Lion, who also falls on its paws. Sincline is launched into the air and slams into Voltron. Team Voltron screams, the two mechs tumbling freely. Hira and Raimon are ecstatic: their savior is alive, and he’s going to help them defeat Voltron once and for all! “Lotor! He has returned!” “Our goddess has done it!”

Cut back to Team Voltron, recovering from the blow and are in shock at the sight. The Sincline was back, and that meant Lotor was back. Allura feels his return and the glow in her Altean marks grow brighter, baffled by the connection she still has with him and his ship. She ignores it. Right now they have to stop him. Lance asks Shiro what they should do. 

Shiro: Stopping Lotor is our priority right now! Form swords!

Pidge and Keith use their bayards to form Voltron’s swords, rippling with more Altean magic. They charge at Sincline. Sincline looks up and on instinct, forms its own swords and charges at Voltron. They clash for a good while. Voltron occasionally gains the upper hand thanks to the individual lions powers. But Sincline evens out the odds with the enormous amounts of quintessence it’s collected from the Rift. It strikes with extreme brutality, the quintessence increasing the force of impact. The opposing mech can even manipulate that same quintessence, throwing blasts of pure energy at them. “What the quiznak!?” Oriande’s landscape starts glowing blue and purple. Eventually, Sincline strikes hard enough for Voltron to split into the five Lions like in the original episode. They all fall and form massive crates, dazed and exhausted from the previous fights.

But before Sincline can strike any of them down, something changes. Not only does it pull back from attacking, it disengages its swords. It stands there like its waiting for something. Hira and Raimon are heard cheering again, flanking Sincline’s sides. Lotor defeated Voltron! 

They’re brought to attention when Honerva stands and raises a hand towards the three ships. She praises her children for their service and asks for them to bring Lotor to her, for she desires to embrace him as a mother should. Hira and Raimon happily (and blindly) follow the commands of their Empress and take each of the Sincline’s arms. Sincline panics and fights against them. The Komars apply more strength as the push Sincline towards Honerva while it continues to struggle. At this point, everyone is (tired and) confused. Sincline wanted to fight Voltron but then it didn’t, now it resists the Komars and refuses to go near Honerva. 

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Allura says to herself. Her Altean marks glow even brighter, enough to be seen through her helmet. Somehow, she can hear the ATLAS fighting against the other Komars, then she hears the White Lion roaring in despair, finally, she hears a soft, familiar voice coming from the cockpit of the Sincline. The same one that spoke to her throughout their search.

The Sincline suddenly goes still and the voice dies down. Allura’s suspicions have been confirmed, “Lotor.” The Komars finally overpower the Sincline and place it in front of Honerva, kneeling. Honerva reaches both hands to Sincline’s head, “Come back to me.”

The door of the cockpit forcibly opens to reveal Prince Lotor. The Galtean Emperor, Child of the Void, Savior of the Altean Colony, and her son. She calls out to him. There’s no response. He lays limp against his seat, white hair longer than before, and his Altean marks glowing with the same intensity as Allura’s. Allura gasps while Honerva slowly twists her hands. Lotor is removed from his seat, descending from the cockpit and into her arms. Haggar presses her face against his neck and runs her claws through his hair, her son has returned to her. The glow on his cheeks never fades away. Honvera doesn’t notice the cracks in her hands.

Allura tries to wake the rest of the Paladins but they’re out cold. She tries to shake Lance awake but there’s no response from him. She can’t contact the ATLAS either because of interference. Seeing Honerva distracted by holding Lotor, she realizes only she can stop her. "Time to end this.” Gritting her teeth she jets out of the Blue Lion. (These next scenes should be imagined in slow mo) Sincline notices her, a single glowing eye making eye contact with her. She briefly panics, thinking that it might fire on him even without Lotor piloting but instead it continues to stare. 

However, Raimon notices and aims his chest beam at her. Keith and Red intercept the attack, drawing fire to him instead. Raimon easily gets the upper-hand but before he could destroy them (and to everyone’s shock) Sincline intercepts the attack. “What is this!?” “Lotor NO!” Sincline fights the Komar. No one knows whats happening anymore. Keith stares at the Sincline in shock and tries to wake up the other Paladins. He flies to Black first, Shiro slowly comes to. (after this we’re back in real time)

Allura leaps into the air and screams, using the Altean broadsword she created. Before the blade could reach Honerva, her eyes glow purple and she surrounds Allura in darkness. There conversation carries similar beats to the original, however Honerva questions Allura’s legitimacy as an Altean.

Honerva: I knew Alfor well. He was one of the most powerful alchemists of our generation. Melenor on the other hand...

Allura: Don’t you dare mention my mother! She would be horrified at what you are doing, what the last Alteans are doing!

Honerva: How would you know? You’ve never met her. She was not a normal Altean. No, she was not Altean at all. She might not even be considered a living being. She had a power that even Alfor couldn’t measure up to. She could’ve destroyed me if she’d survived Altea’s destruction. But I know she wouldn’t. Because she would understand why I do these things. As a mothers...(Lotor appears in her arms, she cradles him like an infant) we would do anything for our children...

Those words combined with the emotional weight of seeing the man she once (and still might) love stops her attack. She falls, tears are falling onto his visor. Even her tears can’t dim the glow on her cheeks. Now the tables have turned: Honerva can destroy the Blue Paladin now that he’s vulnerable. She stands and (still holding Lotor) stretches her free hand toward the Sincline...

Honerva: Destroy the Blue Lion.

Allura’s head snaps up, horrified. Sincline doesn’t listen and continues to fight Raimon. Honerva stretches her hand further, black and purple lightning freezing Allura. Sincline struggles to resist her command, and rips the Komars head off. Raimon thinks it’s the end for him. However, Sincline places the Komars head on a separate rock. Now it turns its attention to Honerva. She repeats her command, “Destroy the Blue Lion.” 

When Lance’s eyes open, Sincline is staring down at him. Keith eyes turn Galran again, screams “LANCE!” and charges at Sincline. Sincline’s cannon loads and Lance braces for the worst... but instead of firing at Lance, it turns and fires at Honerva. 

The blast knocks her back and forces her to release Lotor. Instead of falling, he levitates, a soft purple glow forming a sphere around him. Altean alchemy, Allura realizes. When he opens his eyes, his stare is blank. He waves a hand, gently pushing Allura to the Blue Lion. Purple spheres surround it and the remaining Lions. The remaining Paladins have recovered by now. Hunk panics, Pidge is suspicious, Keith thinks that Lotor’s capturing them for Honerva, Lance is in awe (The ‘cool arc’ between Lance and Lotor begins). Shiro tries to think of an escape plan. Allura’s in shock.

All of a sudden the Lions are thrown upward, right where they entered Oriande. The spheres are guiding them back to the ATLAS. Honerva, enraged by Sincline’s disobedience and Lotor aiding Voltron’s escape, uses the Olkarion cubes inside and outside of Oriande to absorb the White Lion. Her Komars are fast enough to avoid the shock-wave and escape but the Lions would be left stunned and be destroyed by the resulting explosion. Hira picks up Raimon and zooms pass the Voltron Lions, ordering the remaining Komars to pull back. They do so as the energy from the Olkarion cubes and Honerva’s alchemy drains the White Lion further. Allura jets off to the ATLAS and Kosmo teleports her to the bridge. She hears the White Lion’s roar again and she orders the ATLAS to fly closer.

Honerva raises Oriande’s pyramids with her alchemy, dragging the White Lion with them. Lotor lifts himself into Sincline and flies after her. The giant visage of the White Lion disappears as Honerva forces it out of the white hole. Sincline emerges soon after, glowing purple. It extends an arm and the White Lion stops moving, the sphere of black magic Honerva trapped it with slowly turns purple. The spheres around the Voltron Lions disappear, giving Sincline and Lotor more power. 

Allura tells the Paladins they need to form Voltron again. The ATLAS crew protest but she tells them if the White Lion dies, Oriande will collapse and the explosion will destroy all of them. The White Lion struggles, torn between two powerful Alchemists. It’s tail slowly gains black cracks from Honerva’s power, slowly pull it towards her. Sincline is struggling. Honerva uses one of her hands to hurl chunks of ship debris at them. A gigantic piece of rock manages to knock Sincline off balance. Voltron forms their blazing sword and slices through the parts and charges at Honerva. She uses her black magic to zap Voltron, shocking the Paladins again and draining their quintessence.

Hearing the screams of her family, Allura channels her alchemy again, marks glowing brighter than ever. The jewel in her tiara, her eyes, and hair start glowing white too. An ancient power courses through her, amplified by her proximity to Oriande. She lets out a ferocious, echoing roar, startling everyone on the ship. A massive ring of blue Altean magic forms around the ATLAS as it magically transforms again, (She does the thing that never happens in the series in the opening when all the lasers shoot out of the Castle of Lions) dozens of lasers shoot out and strike the Komars. A ripple effect happens when a laser hits Voltron and the mech glows blue and white. The Lions all open their mouths (Yes, even the Black Lion), roar, and fire five lasers. They merge into one and hit Honerva, Oriande’s pyramids black out.

The White Lion breaks free and pounces. The Paladins brace themselves for the worst. Sincline/Lotor leap in front of them and form a shield of purple quintessence. “NO!” Allura throws her hands in front of her and stops the White Lion. She gently turns her hands towards her, enormous yellow eyes turning to her, “You’re not safe here. Honerva will destroy you. Let us help you.” The White Lion seems to understand and disappears into nebula of white and blue. This allows Allura to merge it with the ATLAS. The explosions caused by the White Lions drainage are also absorbed into the ship. The ATLAS glows blue and white, bubbles and streaks of quintessence merging with its mechanics. Everyone inside the ship is floating (Slav is definitely flipping out lol), and then are gently dropped onto the floor as the glow recedes. No one pays attention to how the bridge has changed.

Honerva stares at the sight in disbelief. She was right: the Princess is clearly no ordinary Altean. She’s too powerful to even be a Chosen Altean of Oriande. 

She winces at the sudden pain in her chest. She looks at her hand. She’s wide-eyed as her hand is almost completely vanished. Her veins slowly turning into cracks in the skin, pure quintessence from the White Lion leaking out. Feeling her marks coming apart too, she uses black magic to seal them, pain coursing through her. She then wormholes the pyramids and her army away from the white hole. Although the pyramids are no longer present, the White Lion still lives within the ATLAS. Oriande lives another day. 

Sincline and Voltron are floating, quintessence swirling around them and healing any injuries they had had. Everyone watches the scene in silence. Ryner informs them that the white hole has stabilized, the lights on the ATLAS flicker light blue. No one moves. 

Sincline regains consciousness first and flies over to Lotor to gently hold him in its claws. It places him back in the cockpit. Voltron recovers and flies in front of the ATLAS, holding steady as it approaches. To the disbelief of the Paladins and everyone on the ATLAS, Allura asks Sincline why it didn’t destroy them when it had the chance. Continuing to shock everyone, Sincline responds, speaking like an AI, “Pilot unconscious. Requires immediate medical attention.” 

Tentatively, they allow Sincline on board the ATLAS. Sincline kneels in front of Allura and opens its cockpit. Lotor is gently removed from his seat, falling into Allura’s arms. Allura slowly shakes him, whispering his name. “Lotor? Lotor? Are you okay?” The Paladins, MFE pilots, and the lady Generals surround her, waiting with baited breath. Romelle looks at them in disgust. Lotor’s Altean marks are still glowing, Allura’s too. She holds her hand, allowing it to glow white-blue before resting it against his forehead. His eyes barely open when he speaks, “--lura?”

Allura: Lotor?

Lotor (gasping): A-Allura...O-Orian...the Whit-te L-Lion...

Allura: Shhhhhh, it’s okay...they’re safe. We’re safe.

As if on instinct, she rests her forehead against his, sensing his life force stabilizing. The Garrison medics put him on a stretcher and wheel him to the medical bay. Allura’s eyes follow them, filled with worry, both of their Altean marks stop glowing. The Paladins don’t know what to do, neither do the MFE’s, the lady Generals are in shock. The last shot of the episode is in Lotor’s point of view, vision blurry and barely making out the dozens of people rushing around the launch bay. His gaze is focused on Allura before he blacks out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Game changers amiright? This episode is tied with Battle Scars for the amount of rewrites but it was also one of the easiest cause I knew what I wanted. Genesis is a good episode by itself but it’s anti-climatic when put in context with the rest of the season. The fights have more tension because Allura’s powers are given a major boost in Oriande, Lotor is still alive and saved Team Voltron again and now has alchemist abilities, Sincline is in control of its own actions, and the mystery of Allura’s mother is introduced. 

The MFE Ares Fighters are named after the Greek God of War, likewise the IGF Atlas is named after the Greek myth of a man named Atlas who carried the world on his shoulders. I found it fitting to name the new MFE Fighters after Athena. Athena is the Greek Goddess of Wisdom and Strategic Warfare. This symbolizes how Team Voltron will wise-up as they have been in this rewrite.  More on that later *wink* It’s doubly fitting because the pilots are the lady Generals and Adam.

Raimon was King Alfor’s Japanese name in GO!Lion. I’m just dropping all the Voltron references in this rewrite lmao.

Allura’s preservation of the White Lion by absorbing it into the ATLAS has a similar feeling to Princess Serenity revealing herself in the Sailor Moon anime's. It leaves the characters witnessing the event in awe. Oh yeah, the laser that struck Voltron did something to it besides give it a major power boost. More on that later *wink*

Altean alchemy doesn’t have a solid definition in the series, neither does anything outside of the Garrison tech. Pidge and Hunk bluntly describe it as ‘magic’ while in Season 3 Alfor said he built the Voltron Lions with his alchemy, which implies there’s a technological aspect to it. Altean alchemy is also directly tied to quintessence, evident by anything Haggar/Honerva does during the series. In Season 7 Sam says that quintessence is an energy generated by living beings while in Season 4 Lotor says there’s pure quintessence in the space between realities. So with all of that stray information, my definition of Altean alchemy is that it’s the more benevolent cousin of blood bending and metal bending from Avatar: 

It allows the alchemist to siphon energy to connect deeper with the universe and create their own unique technologies they can infuse different abilities too. Amplified by quintessence, the lifeblood of the VLD Universe. To pull a quote from the Dark Phoenix movie, “You can turn dust to water, water into life.”

This is how Allura is able to control the Lions even tho she’s not present in any of the cockpits. Besides the fact that Alfor connected them to her life force. However, there is an even more powerful magic inside her, and it’s directly tied to her mother. Even more on that later *wink*

(Phew! You guys made it through Part 1 of this rewrite. Brownie points for persisting with my rambling and inconsistencies with writing hehehe. Thank you for joining me on this adventure. Stay tuned for part 2!)

#vld #voltron critical #vld rewrite #voltron rewrite #voltron season 8 rewrite #lotura #klance #adashi #lotor #prince lotor #princess allura #allura #coran #shiro #adam #keith #lance #hunk #pidge #honerva #romelle #krolia

[calligraphist-artemisia]

Across Time and Space (Chapter 5)

Summary: Sequel to I’ll Take Her Place.  Slav is showing off a piece of experimental equipment, when it malfunctions and blasts Katie and Keithir to another universe. At the same time, it drags Pidge and Keith over into theirs, effectively swapping places. With their fate resting in the hands of Slav, will they be able to get back home? Or are they stuck to live the rest of their lives in the wrong universe?

Also posted on AO3 and fanfiction.net under the username “kishirokitsune”.

Sorry this one's a few days late! After only having two short chapters for the last updates and then taking a week off for Kidgeweek, I thought you all deserved something longer. I hope you all enjoy it!

Edit 6/6/19 - fixed a mistake where I left out an entire line of Hunk’s dialogue (where he’s teasing Lance about snoring)

Chapter 5

ORBITING OLKARION – CASTLE OF LIONS

“You have a son?” Hunk asked softly.

He and Lance had been rendered speechless with surprise after the newest revelation, which also included the fact that Keithir was Galra royalty.

Keithir tugged a small, violet colored device from his pocket and tapped at the screen for a moment before passing it over to Hunk. “His name is Yorak.”

Hunk “aww'd” over the picture, which was of Keithir and a small Galra child perched on his shoulders, both grinning at the camera. He took a few ticks to look it over before handing it to Lance.

Lance cocked his head to the side. “Don't take this the wrong way, but he doesn't look anything like you, Katie.”

“He's adopted,” Katie explained, amused. “There was an outcry from some of the Galra when we got married. They worried that any cub we had would be too human to lead, so when the opportunity to adopt Yorak came up, we took it.”

“He's the nephew of my father's top commander. Yorak's parents were killed in a raid on one of the outlying colonies, but his uncle isn't the best with kids, so he asked us,” Keithir said, taking the device back from Lance.

“Your reality sounds so nice. No war, you two are married with a kid...” Hunk paused. “But what about us? I mean, the Hunk and Lance of your world. You haven't talked much about them.”

Lance brightened up. “Yeah! Am I married? Is she pretty? I mean, obviously, since it's me-” (Hunk snorted in amusement.) “-but is she?”

Katie covered her mouth to hide her grin.

Keithir put his device away, while struggling to keep his composure. “Ah, well... you're both happily married,” he said elusively, kind of enjoying dragging it out.

“Yes!” Lance happily pumped a fist in the air. “What's she like? I wonder if she's someone I'll meet in the future. Or maybe I already know her! Is it Allura?”

Hunk stared at them with wide eyes. “I'm married?”

“On a serious note, are you both sure you want to know?” Katie asked. “We already know how different our realities are, and I don't want to make things weird for all of you. Just because it happened one way for u, doesn't mean it'll be the same for you.”

“Now I really want to know,” Lance said, eagerly leaning forward.

Hunk looked a little more apprehensive about what they had to say, but there was still a burning curiosity there that made him want to know. “It'll be nice to hear what we're like in a reality that isn't mind controlled by Alteans, like in that one that we ended up in a few months back. Not that we ever actually saw ourselves there. Just this odd version of Shiro...”

That statement nearly derailed the entire conversation, except Hunk refused to say another word about it. It was a sneaky tactic and as frustrating as it was to have a potential answer for how to get home, Katie mentally applauded him for that bit of cunning.

“We're revisiting that,” Katie told him.

Hunk nodded.

Keithir looked as though he was about to demand carrying on with that line of conversation right then and there, but with a look from Katie he stayed quiet. They had teased Hunk and Lance enough and they deserved to get their answers. Then the two could tell them more about their other interaction with a different reality.

“When we left, the two of you were visiting Nalquod to renew your wedding vows for a fourth time,” Katie said, giving them a moment to process the information.

“I, uh,” Lance stammered, looking wide-eyed at Hunk. He cleared his throat, struggling for a moment, and then gave his friend a lopsided grin. “Anything you want to tell me, buddy?”

Hunk appeared mildly uncomfortable. “I don't – I mean, not anymore! There was this teeny little crush I had, but I'm over that, I swear!”

There was a moment of silence as Lance gaped at him. Clearly that wasn't a response he had expected. He recovered fairly quickly and jokingly responded with: “I can't say I blame you. I am pretty cool.”

Hunk let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and relaxed, relieved he hadn't messed things up between them with his revelation. It felt good to come clean after hiding it for so long. “Yeah, you are. Unfortunately, you also snore and that's why I knew we wouldn't work.”

“I don't snore!” Lance protested.

“As the person who was your roommate at the Garrison, I'm uniquely qualified to say that yes, you do,” Hunk teased.

“Oh yeah? Well you-! You, uh...” Lance paused as he tried to think of a good comeback. “You hoard food and don't share!”

Hunk gasped in mock outrage.

Katie and Keithir sat back and enjoyed listening to their friendly banter back and forth. As much as they wanted to hear a possible solution to their problem, they understood their friends needed a few minutes to reassure one another that nothing was going to be weird between them.

“You know, I don't think we ever told Shiro about Sven,” Hunk said, seemingly out of the blue. He shared a glance with Lance, who followed along with the change of topic with an easy shrug.

“That whole day was weird. It's kind of like we all agreed to never talk about it again without actually saying we'd never talk about it again,” Lance said. “Because, honestly, Shiro's alternate self was probably the least weird thing about it.”

That was it.

That was what Katie and Keithir were waiting for.

“You guys saw an alternate reality and got back home on your own?” Katie asked, sounding amazed. “How did you do it? Tell me everything!”

“It all started when we picked up on this Altean distress signal...”

ALTEA – CASTLE OF LIONS

Someone was knocking at the door.

Pidge wasn't sure how she should handle it. Allura had payed them another visit to bring them food and an update, promising that she'd have more answers in the morning, which Pidge assumed meant they were being left alone for the night.

So who was knocking at the door? And why was Keith taking so long in the bathroom? She knew he liked to be alone, but it was getting ridiculous.

She stood, glancing at the bathroom and then to the main door as whoever was there knocked again. “H-hello? Allura, is that you?”

“Katie?”

Not Allura.

And not Shiro either. Or anyone she whose voice she recognized.

What was she going to do? Allura and Shiro specifically said they wanted to keep the number of people who knew about the switch to a minimum; understandable, given that Keith was a Galra prince in that reality.

Had she stayed quiet, she could have just ignored them until they went away, but it would be rude to do that after speaking up.

“Just a second!” Pidge called out, hoping that Keith would wonder what all of the noise was about and come out to help her.

No such luck.

Pidge quietly grumbled as she shuffled over to the door, where she took a deep breath and stood up straight before opening it. A tall man with salt-and-pepper hair and the faint trace of a beard stood on the other side, blinking down at her with oddly familiar eyes. He stared for a moment and Pidge shifted, thoroughly uncomfortable.

“Sorry,” he blurted out, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “Shiro told me what was goin' on and that I shouldn't bother you, but I had to come down and make sure you kids are alright.”

The automatic response of “we're okay” hung on the tip of Pidge's tongue even as she tried to puzzle out who the man was. He was human, that much was obvious, but beyond that she honestly had no idea. She ended up giving no answer as Keith exited the bathroom at long last.

She turned to face him when she heard the click of the bathroom door in time to watch him go perfectly still, his eyes wide as he took in the sight of the man standing in the doorway. He swallowed thickly and (to Pidge's immense surprise) tears welled up in his eyes.

“Dad?” he asked, his voice breaking.

Pidge's heart clenched as she registered the pain in his voice. She could only step aside and watch, feeling as though she was witnessing something so deeply personal that it would be wrong for her to stay, as Keith broke down and his dad strode across the room to comfort him.

But Pidge had no place to go. All she could do was watch, helpless to do anything.

She reached up and rubbed her eyes, blinking back her own tears that threatened to fall. In that moment, listening to Keith try and talk, she began to realize just how little she knew about her teammate.

Hunk and Lance talked about their interests and families all the time and she'd heard so many stories of Shiro from her dad and Matt; even Allura and Coran, when they were in the right mood, would tell stories of Alfor and the way things were on Altea.

But Keith had always stayed quiet. Everything she knew about him was what she observed for herself and when it came down to it, it wasn't enough.

“It's alright, son. It's alright. I'm here now,” said Keith's dad.

Pidge didn't know how long they'd be stuck there, but she was going to use that time to her full advantage. She'd get to know him better and convince Allura to let him spend more time with his dad, on top of helping Slav with whatever he needed. It was a lot, and she was sure she'd find more to add to her list, but she had the determination and drive to see it through.

Keith spent an hour talking to his dad and recovering from the shock of getting to see him again. He never could have imagined being in a reality where he was still alive, but there he was: older, but still the same as he remembered.

Saying goodbye felt like an impossible task, even with the promise of another visit, and the moment his dad walked out of the room, Keith sank down onto the bed, completely drained.

A few seconds later, the space next to him dipped down as Pidge settled in next to him.

With a start, Keith realized she'd been in the room all along and he hadn't once stopped to consider how uncomfortable she must have felt standing there and watching. He guiltily looked over at her. “I'm sorry, Pidge.”

“Sorry? Sorry for what?” she asked, sounding genuinely confused.

“I – the whole thing with my dad. I didn't think.” He had no idea how to properly put it into words. He just knew that apologizing was the right thing to do.

Wasn't it?

Pidge frowned. “What? Keith, no. You don't have to be sorry for that! He's your dad! I'll admit I wasn't expecting that and next time I'll leave the room, but that's not something you need to apologize for. If anything, I feel bad that I couldn't give you more privacy.”

“That's not your fault either,” Keith pointed out.

He started to see what she meant though; neither of them were at fault. They were rooming together under strange circumstances and all they could do was their best, which meant that he needed to pull it together.

He'd never been the best at that without a little help, but he though he could do it for Pidge's sake.

She smiled up at him. “It's getting late. We should sleep.”

“Oh, yeah,” Keith responded, getting up to look around some more. There had to be some extra blankets somewhere. Or maybe he could use a couple of towels? It wouldn't be ideal for sleeping, but it was better than nothing.

“Keith, what are you doing?”

“You can take the bed,” Keith said, debating with himself over whether or not it was right to go through the closet. Even if it did belong to another version of him, it still felt like an invasion of privacy to open up something so personal.

“And where will you sleep? On the floor?” Pidge asked, sounding as though the very thought was absurd.

When Keith turned back to her, it was to the sight of her rolling her eyes.

“And what would you suggest?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Pidge mirrored his pose. “In the bed.”

Keith's jaw dropped. Had he heard that right? She couldn't really be suggesting they share the bed, could she? It wouldn't be appropriate! “But that isn't – I can't!”

“Why?”

“It isn't right, Pidge!”

“Why?” Pidge repeated, uncrossing her arms. “Give me one good reason why. Do you think I'm going to molest you in your sleep or something?”

“What? No!” Keith protested.

Pidge pressed on. “Okay, then are you planning on doing something to me?”

Keith shook his head before she even finished speaking. “No! I'd never do that to you. Or anyone else!”

“Then I really don't see what the problem is,” Pidge said with an air of finality. “There's nothing wrong with two friends sharing a bed. And look, it's big enough for both of us to spread out without touching! If it really bothers you, then we'll figure something else out, but I'm not going to let you sleep on the floor.”

Friends.

Keith stared at her with wide eyes.

That was the first time she'd ever referred to him as a friend. The first time anyone – outside of Shiro – had done so. He knew most people didn't need to hear it in order to know it was true, but it made it feel so much more real to him to be able to hear it.

Pidge was his friend. Close to his heart in such an unexpected way.

He looked at the bed and then back at her.

“Okay.”

OLKARION – VOLTRON COALITION HQ

If Katie thought the Slav from her reality was unhinged, he had nothing on the manic personality that was the Slav rambling on in front of her. No one seemed to know what to do except let him keep talking, as any attempt to redirect him let only to frustration.

He rambled on about probabilities and had two panic attacks over whether or not he knew how to breathe, before focusing on Katie and Keithir with razor sharp attention and falling silent for the first time since they entered the room.

It was so unsettling that Katie thought she'd rather listen to him lose his mind over Shiro stepping on a crack in the floor again.

“Fascinating,” he murmured, looking them up and down. “You two really are from another reality! How spectacular!”

And just like that, the moment was broken as he unleashed a tidal wave of words that left them all scrambling to keep up. Details of his own theories intermixed with almost incoherent ramblings of someone who rarely knew what was happening in the world around him, punctuated by brief moments of what was almost clarity.

Katie started to wonder if he'd really be able to help them after all.

“And you two are married!” Slav said, sounding delighted as he broke away from detailing how parallel universes differentiated from alternate realities. “Congratulations, by the way!”

“Thanks?” Keithir replied, completely baffled. “We've been married for eight years.”

“Not for that! For the baby!”

Katie's breath caught in her throat, one hand automatically rising to her belly.

Keithir was even more bewildered by that statement. “But Yorak's four,” he said, looking to Katie for assistance. He took one look at her and knew there was something more to it than that. “Katie?”

Guilt clawed its way through her chest. “I was going to tell you and then all of this happened and I... I just didn't want you to worry. You're already worrying so much about all of this!”

She knew she was babbling and needed to calm down and breathe, but it was so hard! It was the completely wrong way for Keithir to find out. They were supposed to be on vacation! They were supposed to be sitting back and relaxing, not stuck in the middle of a ten-thousand year old war with their only hope of getting home resting in the hands of a complete lunatic!

Slav blithely continued on, unaware of the distress he was causing. “A little princess! Quite the honor for Galra! Or is that another reality...?” And just like that, he was off on another topic.

Keithir ignored him, stepping in front of Katie to block out everything else and give her something familiar and comforting to focus on. He lifted up her free hand and gently kissed hr knuckles. “We're having a baby?” he asked softly.

Katie nodded, her whole body trembling as she sucked in air. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner.”

That was a discussion for another time, when they were both calm and there was no one else around to interrupt.

“You wanted to surprise me,” he guessed. “Well, I can definitely say that I'm surprised.”

She giggled, lifting her head to peer up at him with teary eyes. “We're having a baby. A princess, if Slav's right.”

“Awww!”

“Hunk!” Lance hissed.

Hunk looked mildly abashed. “Sorry! It's just that they're so cute! And they're having a baby! Can you imagine it? A little Pidge and Keith running around!”

“Which means that it is even more imperative that we return them home quickly,” Allura said, stepping forward. “There must be something we can do. Slav, do you have any ideas? Perhaps a beacon of some kind?”

Slav looked panicked by the very idea. “Are you crazy? Do you have any idea the very horrors that could attract to us?!”

“Okay, then lets not do that,” Shiro spoke up before Slav could go into details about said horrors. “Could we build something that any other versions of you would be able to hear or know about?”

Slav swayed and opened his mouth to say something, but Shiro grimaced and held up his hand.

“On second thought, never mind. That sounds like a bad idea.”

Keithir wondered if it had more to do with not wanting to potentially deal with more than one version of Slav than whatever nonsense was about to spew out of the genius's mouth next.

“What if we use the Lions?” Hunk suggested. He looked uncomfortable as everyone's attention shifted to him. “Okay, I know we figured that we can't use Voltron to travel through realities, since we don't know where we'd end up, but I've been thinking about it since our conversation last night-” (He nodded to Katie and Keithir.) “-and since the Lions all exist in both worlds, maybe we could use them as some kind of focal point. There had to be some kind of connection between them and if we use that, I bed we could trace it back to their reality!”

“But that still leaves us with the problem of how we'd do that,” Katie pointed out, frowning as she considered the idea.

“Aren't we supposed to have some kind of 'mystical connection' with the Lions? Maybe we just do more of those mind bonding exercises like we did when we first got the Lions.” Lance blinked as everyone turned to him instead. “What? No good?”

“Actually, that's a very good idea,” Allura said, sounding surprised. “It's worth a try, unless Slav has a better idea?”

Slav stood there for a moment, not blinking or speaking.

Allura sighed. “Slav.”

“Oh, you mean me?” he asked, pointing at himself with all four left hands.

Allura's right eye twitched as she struggled to retain composure. “Yes. I mean you.”

“Okay.”

There was a moment of silence as everyone waited for Slav to catch up and answer.

“What was the question again?”

Everyone groaned and prepared for an even longer afternoon than expected.

#voltron #kidge #kidgemas #reality swap au #fanfiction

[foeseekerwriter]

VLD Cast, Sorting Hat Chats Style

So if you aren’t aware, the Sorting Hat Chats are an absolutely incredible method of character analysis (and it’s lots of fun for real people too!) and I use it all. The. Time. So, since I’m working on a VLD project, I decided to do a breakdown. Cliffnotes version of the SHC sorting method: everyone has a “primary” house - why you do something - and a “secondary” house” - how you do something. Here’s a really oversimplified breakdown of both sets.

Primaries Gryffindor - gut instinct, “this is the right thing to do” Ravenclaw - analysis, a morality system, “this is truth” Hufflepuff - community-oriented, loyal to groups, what is best for everyone Slytherin - loyal to their people, take care of them above all else

Secondaries Gryffindor - charge, take things head-on Ravenclaw - contingency plans, mix and match premade methods to adapt Hufflepuff - toil, steady work, often lean on other people to help get things done Slytherin - adaptability in the moment, a tendency to swap masks

All the houses, both primary and secondary, can be “burned”. In the case of a primary this means losing faith in your natural primary (e.g. a Gryffindor who no longer trusts their gut instinct). For a secondary, this means you’re just slogging through trying to get things done any way possible. Primaries and secondaries can also be modeled. Slytherin primaries, for example, often model other primaries in situations where what they’re dealing with doesn’t touch upon “their people”, but everyone can model to some degree for another (for both healthy and unhealthy reasons). A less strong version of modeling is performing, where someone takes on the appearance of another house but it doesn’t feel natural to them.

For a variety of reasons, unless otherwise indicated, I am only using material up through season 6, just so you’re aware.

Anyway, here goes.

MAIN CAST

Shiro—Gryffindor/Hufflepuff

This boi is an overwhelmingly Gryffindor primary. He is willing to throw himself into any and every situation, no matter how hopeless or deadly, if he thinks that is the right thing to do. Witness his determination to find Ulaz and the Blades despite Allura's outspoken protests and the fact that he was going off hazy memories and a gut feeling. It is worth noting, though, that if Allura had really put her foot down on that matter I do think Shiro would have obeyed—reluctantly, but he would have. And although he willingly allows other people, people he cares about, to go into danger—or even sends them there—if that's the right thing to do, whenever possible he does the dangerous thing himself or leads the others into the danger. He's not actively looking to get killed, contrary to all the "guess I'll die" Shiro jokes, but doing the right thing is definitely higher on his priority list than keeping himself safe.

Shiro is a Hufflepuff secondary. He is steady, dependable, works hard, makes people feel safe, is quietly caring, and chips steadily and persistently away at problems ranging from convincing his friends get some sleep to saving the universe. It is this trustworthy, community-focused secondary that gives his primary its great warmth. It also lends to his tendency to “feel” his way through things instead of “think” through them—not that he doesn’t think at all, but he is willing almost more than anyone else in the cast to make decisions off gut feeling instead of careful logic.

(Incidentally, this Gryffindor/Hufflepuff combo may be where the writer criticisms of “Shiro is boring” come from. Healthy, passionate Gryffindors, especially those with the warm and loving Hufflepuff secondary, have a totally undeserved reputation for being uninteresting because they tend to be uninclined to moral angst - which a lot of people seem to think is the only thing that makes characters interesting - and typically don’t spend huge amounts of time thinking through problems. What makes them interesting is not how much they beat themselves up or agonize over their decisions but the depth and passion of their convictions in the face of all odds, and their ability to inspire others toward something better. They are strongest in a group, and they often wind up the leader not from any desire for power but because they engender trust in others. Steve Rogers and Clark Kent, two other fantastic characters who are often unjustly labeled as boring or shallow, share this sorting, by the way. Steve’s sorting you can find on the Sorting Hat Chats. Clark is my own analysis, mostly based in the Young Justice cartoon.)

The overall resilience of this Gryffinpuff sorting can truly be astounding, especially considering that it tends to be a highly idealistic, optimistic combination—ideals and optimism that at best the world often laughs at and at worst spits on and crushes underfoot. In the short term this can be horribly debilitating, which we see most clearly in Shiro after Allura is captured near the end of S1. When he steps out of that escape pod to face the rest of the team is perhaps the lowest we see him in the entire show. But the paradoxical resilience of this combination also allows him to bounce back quite quickly, the strength and passion of his ingrained beliefs and convictions buoying him up in the longer term as he plunges back in to right the wrongs. This is likely how he survived Galra captivity without burning either his primary or his secondary. Most of the others would likely have burned at least one of these, emerging broken or angry and with a much grimmer outlook on the world. Shiro makes it through with his optimistic approach to life largely intact based on what we see of him pre-Kerberos—acknowledging that the world can be gritty and cruel and painful but determined to do everything he can to make it better, determined that it is possible for it to be better, and trying (without much effort) to see the best in every person and situation.

This is how Shiro leads, and this is how he best fights: with people he has brought together at his side to watch his back, to trust and to be trusted, to point the way and inspire others with his convictions and then to lead a motley but effective team toward a chosen goal with the noblest of desires and intentions at the fore. He is certainly willing to fight alone, but whenever he does his fights have a desperate, last-ditch feel—taking Matt’s place in the arena, defending Lance and the Castle against Sendak, facing Haggar on the Galra ship. He is much more comfortable—and much more effective—when he has a team around him on whom he relies and who rely on him. As the leader of Voltron, Shiro regularly leans on the improvisational secondaries of Keith and Lance to come at a problem, and on the foundational secondaries of Pidge and Hunk to figure out how to come at the problem in the first place. It is this natural tendency to encourage and foster teamwork, combined with Shiro’s determined Gryffindor moral compass, that makes team Voltron under Shiro so effective and unified.

Interestingly, it is this trustworthiness and tendency toward reliance on gut instinct that get everyone in trouble with Kuron. Because they’re used to Shiro’s “I can’t necessarily explain this but I have a feeling” MO, and because he’s simply a dependable person who engenders trust in those around him, the rest of the team doesn’t question (much) Kuron’s insistence that they support Lotor until it’s far too late.

 Keith—Slytherin/Gryffindor

Keith's Achilles heel is his friends—first, last, and always. He is willing to throw aside the fate of the universe to save one person, and he wouldn't even bat an eye about it. He breaks into a Garrison facility to rescue Shiro, he jeopardizes their mission to the Blades' base because he hopes to find out more about his family, he fights Zarkon alone to save Shiro, his desperation to help his friends allows him to join with astral-Shiro to unlock the Black Lion’s teleporting ability... His friends and family are his whole world, Shiro more than anyone else.

He tries really hard to model Shiro’s Gryffindor primary, but the poor boy is so bad at it that it really is only a performance, and a half-baked one at that. Almost every single attempt to use this performance gets him into trouble, even with Shiro, whom he’s trying to emulate in the first place. A couple examples of this are when he proposes leaving Allura in Zarkon’s captivity and his kamikaze attack on the Galra cruiser. Neither of these choices feel natural to him; he is trying and failing to do what he thinks he is supposed to do, not what he feels is right or what he wants. He does pull it off successfully a couple times, most notably in the first episode when he advocates for staying on Arus instead of running away, but this is definitely the exception versus the rule and likely had some of his Slytherin primary loyalty behind it (“if these people knew what was happening they’d be counting on me, I can’t let them down”).

I think Keith is actually a burned Slytherin and has kicked himself out of his loyalty circle. He remains devoted to his friends, especially Shiro, but he shows little to no concern for himself. Shiro’s return loyalty and devotion helps keep this burning in check, at the very least by watching out for Keith when Keith won’t watch out for himself, but when Shiro disappears and Keith is forced into a leadership role the burning spirals out of control. It reaches its climax with his kamikaze attack in S4. This burned state gives a desperate edge to his Gryffindor secondary.

Keith’s Gryffindor secondary is loud and brash and is basically summarized by his go-to strategy in almost every circumstance, that being, “I run in and I stab it.” This makes him prone to open-mouth-insert-foot moments, as well as jumping into hot water and needing his friends to bail him out, but it can also make him highly effective when this charging tendency is properly applied. For example, when he and Lance were infiltrating the hangar on the balmera Lance got them there using his come-at-things-sideways Slytherin secondary, but once in the control room he kept looking for a complicated solution to getting the doors open. Keith saved them a lot of time and effort by just putting his hand on the handprint.

This overall Slytherdor combination is what makes leadership so difficult for Keith. Without a reliable primary model to fall back on when something doesn’t land within the bounds of his Slytherin primary, and not having developed a way to keep his charging tendencies in enough check to prevent him and his friends from getting killed, he is not prepared to have team Voltron dropped on his shoulders. He already doesn’t have much confidence in his own ability to handle things or his own instincts about what he should or shouldn’t do, a confidence that Shiro was only just able to keep afloat. Sans Shiro, Keith falls into further loss of self-loyalty and trust in his own ability to manage a given situation (greatly exacerbated by the epic failure of his first mission as Black’s pilot, where Lotor spent the better part of a day running circles around them). In an attempt to cling to something, anything, to give him a foundation as a leader, Keith winds up leaning heavily on a combination of Lance’s Ravenclaw/Slytherin personality and his own very contrived Gryffindor performance. This doesn’t work very well and is one of the reasons team Voltron under Keith feels a lot shakier than it does under Shiro.

In addition, when Kuron takes over Black and Keith leaves for the Blades, the team still feels unbalanced without Keith’s Slytherin primary to help them stay focused on nearest people and priorities first and his Gryffindor secondary to help them charge at the problems that can be charged at. Just because Keith has loose cannon tendencies on his own doesn’t mean he’s not an effective and necessary part of the team makeup. (And by the way, leaving for the Blades is about the only healthily selfish choice we see him make in the whole show, and even that was largely motivated by his Gryffindor performance of “this is the right thing to do so I should do it”; whatever idiot on the writing crew decided that the whole team would jump on his case for this decision needs to step on a Lego.)

In Keith’s (and Shiro’s) defense, given enough time to grow and mature his true primary; develop a healthy, workable Gryffindor (or really any) primary model; and get a bit more control over his Gryffindor secondary tendency to charge, Keith really does have the potential to be a downright incredible leader. A couple great examples of Slytherdor characters are Han Solo, who winds up an excellent and effective leader in the resistance by the end of Episode VI, and Zuko, whose leadership potential gets most fully explored in the truly epic and renowned fanfic Embers by Vathara in which he… well, it’s awesome. (The Sorting Hat Chats folks narrow Zuko down to either Hufflepuff or Slytherin primary. Based on Embers, I think he’s modeling burned Hufflepuff primary at first and eventually loses it in favor of his natural Slytherin primary.) This sorting combo in potential leaders means they tend to take a long time to get to the point where they can be reliably trusted with the lives of others, and even when they do get there they’re often fighting for the cause of “this affects my people so I need to do something”. That doesn’t make them any less effective at what they do, however, and Keith has the potential to reach this place given time, nurturing, and proper motivation. He’s just pushed into a leadership role way too early and not given the sort of support system that would actually allow him to grow and mature while in this position.

Krolia especially has the potential to really help him with this growth, because that woman is an amazing and unapologetic Slytherin primary and her entire life and work is built around it. This both baffles and awes Keith, who assumes Krolia left him and his father for “the mission”—a Gryffindor-esque reason that Keith thinks he should have and tries so hard to believe in, and fails. Krolia without a moment’s hesitation replies, “I did it to protect the person I love most in the world—you.” Given time and the chance to see her in action I think Keith could really grow and mature his own primary based on what he sees in his mother. Add in the return of Shiro to regain his basis and guide for a Gryffindor primary model, plus learning to rely on other people to get things done when he can’t, and down the road I do think Keith could be a leadership force to be reckoned with.

 Lance—Ravenclaw/Slytherin

This guy was hard to pin down, as not only is the Ravenclaw primary typically the most adaptable primary (and has the potential to resemble any of the others) but also Lance starts out with the least mature primary of the whole cast, and he changes quite a bit over the story. He's definitely got a feel for right and wrong, which is assisted in its maturation by the confident and outspoken Gryffindor primaries of both Shiro and Allura, but more than either of them Lance approaches situations acknowledging his gut feeling and then asking "why". See 1x04 when he and Coran are leaving the bridge and Lance senses something’s wrong. Instead of immediately bolting he goes, “Wait, where’s Pidge?” and tries to figure out what’s going on.

Unlike some Ravenclaws he doesn't entirely dismiss his intuition, but he's much more laid-back about his approach to a situation then his Gryffindor leaders, interested in looking at all the angles of a problem before finding a middle ground that best fits the facts of the scenario. With said Gryffindor leaders he usually gets along fine, and he plays an important role as Shiro’s lancer by poking at the black paladin’s gut instincts to see the logic behind them, as well as by utilizing his spur-of-the-moment Slytherin secondary to get things done. He does tend to get frustrated with charge-in-half-cocked Keith, however, since an approach like that for Lance means risking the possibility of jumping to conclusions before an accurate picture has been obtained.

Lance's Slytherin secondary is what makes him the yin to Keith's yang, at least when it comes to combat, as this secondary’s highly adaptable strategic abilities makes him excellent at handling himself and other people in the heat of battle. The red and blue paladins work best together when Lance comes up with a plan and then lets Keith charge it headlong. It's worth noting that Lance is not involved in pre-combat strategy all that much. It is in the middle of combat where he shines, taking situational awareness to a whole new level and quickly formulating battle plans on the spot to adapt to changing circumstances and take advantage of unexpected opportunities.

This Ravenclaw/Slytherin combo makes Lance a quiet information gatherer—not the “knowledge for the sake of it” type like Pidge, or even actively seeking knowledge at all, but more someone who quietly files away facts and tidbits gathered through passive observation for when they might be useful. No one realizes he does this until he casually spits out a perfect conversion of minutes to doboshes or points out an alternate route nobody else noticed. This means he doesn’t always come across as intelligent, but when everything hits the fan he’s probably got a supremely practical collection of data that will be hugely useful in getting everyone out of whatever scrape they find themselves in this time.

When push comes to shove Lance has the potential to be an immovable rock—a Ravenclaw primary certain in his truth and a Slytherin secondary who knows where he stands. We haven’t really had the opportunity to see this in the show, however, both because Lance hasn’t been put into a situation where it’s called for and because he struggles with insecurity. Unlike Keith, whose insecurity comes from a belief that his instinctual priorities are screwed up and he can’t trust himself, Lance’s insecurity stems from the fact that, especially as a Slytherin secondary, he swaps masks moment to moment and so struggles with a two-fold problem of longing to “be real” and fear of being “found out”. He very rarely drops the masks to enter the Slytherin secondary “neutral state”, something that takes confidence and trust in the people around him; we really have only seen him do it for more than a few seconds when he’s talking to the mice in S5. (For an example of a confident Slytherin secondary who actually spend most of her time in the neutral state, look no further than Toph Bei Fong.) This exacerbates the insecurity problem because Lance is so desperately attached to his masks that he hasn’t looked beneath them much, so he struggles with self-understanding.

Lance has additionally been further crippled by the fact that Keith, as team leader, latched on to him as both a moral compass and strategist. The net result was that Lance effectively led the team by proxy, figuring out what they should do in a given situation and even if they should do it at all. It also locked Lance into the role of Keith’s right-hand man when Lance actually operates at his best shifting to fit whatever position is necessary at the time. He is most naturally a jack-of-all-trades (further exacerbating his feelings of isolation and uselessness, as he doesn’t have a “thing”), but being forced to act as Keith’s steering wheel and leash didn’t leave him much opportunity to do anything else. With Kuron as black paladin Lance still is stuck in this position to a degree, since he has to take over the role of charger that Keith left vacant (which leaves some of the adaptability to Allura, who is able to pull it off thanks to her Ravenclaw secondary but isn’t as natural as Lance when doing it). This situation, especially taking on the charger role, is threatening to burn Lance’s secondary. I get the impression that this has already started to occur, as our favorite blue boy is starting to seem more and more worn down as the story goes on.

What Lance needs is for someone to help him see that having masks isn’t a bad thing, and also that taking them off is okay. He actually could learn a lot from Shiro, who was quietly supporting him through S1 and 2, and from Keith, whose brash honesty about who he is (even if he doesn’t like it) is a great opportunity for Lance to gain some confidence. He needs to grasp firmly at truth so that truth can set him free, and then that freedom will give him the solid foundation to plant his feet when the need arises and tell the world, “No, you move.”

 Pidge—Slytherin/Ravenclaw

At first gloss Pidge looks like a straight Ravenclaw, nerdy and obsessed with knowledge. And she definitely has a strong love of truth for truth’s sake and seeks out knowledge like a squirrel does acorns. However, once you start poking under the surface, this Ravenclaw primary-ness is in fact a very robust model bolstered by her Ravenclaw secondary. Her true primary is Slytherin, made evident by the fact that she is willing to throw everything out the window, go to any and all lengths, in order to help her family and friends. She even tells us this in 1x04 when she says to Allura, “My first priority is finding my family.”

This Slytherin primary is healthier and more mature than Keith’s, and it’s clearly been Pidge’s driving force her whole life. She’s got that healthy Slytherin self-interest, always pushing herself to be the best (at least when it comes to science, tech, and engineering). This drive is fueled by her honest love of knowledge, certainly, but also by her desire to be the best, not because she has any interest in rubbing it in people’s faces but because it’s something she wants. (What pride we do see in her usually stems from a job well done versus being smug about her intellectual superiority as such. One thing that’s fantastic about her journey as green paladin is her coming to realize and appreciate how much she doesn’t and can never know.)

She is fiercely devoted to her people above and beyond any semblance of logic. Witness her decision to leave team Voltron to go find Matt and Sam, despite the fact that (as the team and circumstances eventually convince her) she is best served in that endeavor by remaining with the team. When Zarkon uses Sam as a hostage to bargain for Lotor Pidge is beside herself at even the slightest suggestion that they won’t do everything possible to get her father back. Even Matt, who is definitely upset, doesn’t show nearly the same amount of wild desperation. And it is her devotion to her team that enables her to unlock the Green Lion’s vine cannon. She can and often does channel her Ravenclaw secondary when going about her commitment to her people—for example, creating an entire new identity for herself in order to infiltrate the Garrison and find her family, as well as building technology capable of scanning alien radio chatter. But that application of knowledge serves the larger purpose of finding and helping those she loves the most.

With her Ravenclaw secondary Pidge hoards knowledge of all kinds, though she tends to focus on science—specifically physics, engineering, and computers. She is all about contingency plans, tinkering with things to see what new stuff she can get it to do, breaking things into their component parts and mixing them up. She’s not an on-the-spot improviser like Lance; instead, she has a vast array of systems and methods that she switches between and sometimes smashes together in order to tackle a problem. On Olkarion she takes her understanding of binary and puts it into a new environment, enabling her to use their plant-based tech. She reverse engineers the maze walls to develop her own cloaking tech. Like her “Galra tracker” she puts the world through a filter of logic and data and breaks things apart to find patterns and methodologies. This gives her an impressive amount of adaptability within the wide limits of these operational methods, as she is able to take plans and processes and apply them or rearrange them to fit her purposes.

 Hunk—Hufflepuff/Hufflepuff

I don't think there's any doubt in anyone's mind that Hunk is a Hufflepuff primary. He loves people and community and has a deep, iron streak of justice that is terrifying when it comes out. A gentle soul, he still is willing to do whatever it takes to help the most in need, even if that means laying down on the wire or borderline bullying people into getting things done. This desire for justice overrides even his strong sense of self-preservation, which does tend to come across as cowardliness when contrasted with bold Gryffindor primaries like Shiro and Allura or everything-for-my-tribe Slytherin primaries like Pidge and Keith. Lance is the bridge between Hunk and these others, advocating for leaving to fight another day in the first episode. But both Lance and Hunk learn to think beyond themselves over time, and for Hunk the tipping point was the balmera.

Before going to the balmera, Hunk had agreed to participate in team Voltron but his heart wasn’t really in it. He was more doing it because it was expected, that’s what his friends were doing, and in all honesty he didn’t have much choice. Once he visited the balmera, however, and met its residents and saw what the Galra were doing to them, he committed entirely to the cause—and for him, it’s not “because it’s the right thing to do” (Shiro and Allura) or “my people are in danger” (Keith and Pidge). It’s because people, people and communities he cares about, are suffering, and they need someone to help them. That’s not to say he doesn’t still have moments of fear or nerves, but his devotion to this cause of helping the needy gives him the courage necessary to overcome his fear.

This dedication to community gives Hunk a commitment to justice that can be truly unnerving to see come out in someone so gentle. It happens only rarely, but when it does we see the full extent of Hunk’s quiet power and unyielding foundation. The best example is Rolo and Nyma when the bounty hunters hold up team Voltron on their way to the balmera. This incident happens largely because of Shiro and Allura’s idealistic Gryffindor primaries, and although Hunk doesn’t like the delay he hasn’t yet learned to push his point with his leaders (or to trust his instincts; Hunk is someone who has been a follower for most of his life, if only because he’s gentle and laid back enough to get pushed around by stronger personality types, and part of his growth is learning to stand up for himself and his beliefs). Once the bounty hunters’ true motives are revealed, the depth of Hunk’s fury is terrifying. Months later, when he encounters Rolo and Nyma again after the bounty hunters have joined up with the rebels, he is still angry—because they upset the scales of justice and injured the community and the overall good, and violating trust like that takes lots of time and lots of effort to overcome. It’s possible, but although he is willing to give new people the benefit of the doubt this Hufflepuff does not forgive serious grievances easily.

Hunk is a Hufflepuff secondary—the quiet, trustworthy, reliable guy who often gets overlooked until as a last resort he throws back the curtains to reveal a powerhouse surrounded by an unswervingly dedicated group of people - and often he doesn’t even throw back the curtains. People he didn’t even know were dedicated just show up to punch the lights out of whoever dared to mess with their precious cinnamon roll, often to Hunk’s surprise. He’s not an obviously inspirational community builder like Shiro, but he nevertheless quietly and unconsciously builds a loyal community that often takes him for granted because he blends in with the scenery most of the time. Even as they don’t notice he’s there, however, they pick up the bits of comfort and safety and quiet trust he offers them, making him a sort of glue in the woodwork—invisible, but holding everything together when the rubber meets the road. He lacks the Ravenclaw ability to adapt, but he still is a foundational secondary that the others lean upon in times of trouble.

He also has a wonderfully down-to-earth approach to things, pointing out that “we are in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now” and, though he is certainly able to be impressed, he much prefers to see things as they truly are than as he would like them to be. As an extension of his sense of justice, he much prefers pure honesty to half-truths, and he really doesn’t seem to have a deceptive bone in his body. He pushes steadily through information until he uncovers the foundational truth of a matter.

To a degree he models a Ravenclaw secondary, gathering information about food and cultures and science (especially engineering and chemistry) and asking questions that often don’t even seem to occur to the others. But he lacks the adaptability of a true Ravenclaw secondary, instead using that secondary’s toolset only to the extent that it furthers the needs of his true Hufflepuff secondary.

 Allura—Gryffindor/Ravenclaw

Allura’s strong Gryffindor primary is fed through her Ravenclaw secondary, making her a far more logical (and even coldly ruthless) Gryff than passionate, Hufflepuff secondary Shiro. This makes for an interesting paradox with their roles, as Shiro—the head—is deeply centered in feeling and instinct, while Allura—the heart—approaches things from a much more logic-based viewpoint. At the end of S1, when Allura is captured and Shiro is leading the team alone, he is undeterrable from his commitment to rescue Allura because he feels that’s the right thing to do, darn it, and to heck with all the reasons why it’s not. (There are actually some very solid strategic reasons for rescuing Allura, but Shiro is totally uninterested in them. This is simply the right thing to do; reason and cold logic is secondary.) Upon the team’s arrival Allura’s immediate reaction is “why the heck did you come here, that was so stupid.” Shiro’s role as the passionate head is guided by Allura operating as the rational heart.

Now, that’s not to say Allura is always actually truly rational about her choices and beliefs. Witness her “never trust a Galra” mentality of most of the first two seasons. Granted, she has some pretty good reasons for it—the Galra kind of massacred her entire people and destroyed her planet, after all—but when faced with a heap of evidence that there actually are trustworthy Galra it takes her a while to warm up to the idea. The fact that she does eventually come around is evidence of her willingness to actually listen to reason, not just the way she wants or believes things to be, but her difficulty in doing so is rooted in her Gryffindor passion and stubbornness.

She seems to be a Ravenclaw secondary, but stretched thin on time, resources, energy, and mental capacity, she focuses much more on practical knowledge, whether that be the ins and outs of the Castle systems, alchemy, or matters of state and diplomacy. She doesn’t have the luxury of delving into something just for the sake of learning about it, but she tends to know a bit about everything. And she does have a wide range of strategies and behavioral structures that often emulate the other secondaries—Gryffindor charging (probably learned from Alfor, and this is usually just in combat), Hufflepuff caring and toil (she’s taken on a task that can’t be solved in a day, after all), and even Slytherin manipulativeness (she never speaks untruth but she does lie by omission during S1, avoiding telling the paladins who the previous black paladin was until that lack of information puts all their lives in jeopardy).

This extensive and varied array of mechanisms at her disposal indicates a widely applicable and decently adaptive Ravenclaw secondary. However, the clear demonstration of traits of other secondaries, plus her “whatever is necessary to get things done” mindset, suggests that Allura is in danger of burning her secondary. There is a satisfaction when she completes a task that seems to indicate she hasn’t yet done so, but the risk is definitely there. She continues to take on more and more in order to further her goals, and although she is devoted to her team she’s not quite as capable as Shiro at fielding out tasks to those best suited to them. Granted, quite a bit of what she does can’t be fielded out—piloting the Castle, making wormholes, flying Blue, alchemy. But she’s stretching herself dangerously thin, and especially without Shiro there telling her to take a break when she’s pushing too far she is getting very close to tipping over the edge into exhausted slogging through tasks using whatever methods necessary.

Part of the problem, too, is she is not as well suited to Blue as Lance is. Blue is the middle ground Lion in pretty much every way—speed, armor, combat ability. It is a Lion meant to fill in the gaps between the others wherever and whenever necessary, which requires some degree of jack-of-all-trades functionality. Allura can do many things, but she doesn’t fit this description as well as Lance does, if only because there are other things she can do much better. Her Ravenclaw secondary means she is intellectually adaptable, but not necessarily situationally adaptable, at least to the same extent that Lance is. She’s able to make up the difference enough to get by, but the resulting adaptability isn’t as fluid as Lance’s and is hindered by her Gryffindor primary fixation on the end goal. This puts yet another bump in the cogs of team Voltron when Lance and Allura are in Red and Blue, and it gives Allura yet another ball to juggle, taxing her even more. She needs to get out of Blue and hand over to others those tasks that do not absolutely require her to do them, which will allow her to better and more fully do those things that do require her.

 SECONDARY CAST and VILLAINS (Note: Most of these sortings tend more toward speculation, as we have often seen very little of these people on screen and so it is harder to make calls about some of them.)

Coran—Ravenclaw/Ravenclaw

Coran is hard to figure out because his whole life and person are channeled through his role as Allura’s servant, steward, and advisor. He’s definitely a constructionist house, but I ultimately peg him as a Ravenclaw primary because he doesn’t throw everything to the winds when Allura (the person he is devoted to above all else) is in danger the way you’d expect with a Slytherin primary. This doesn’t make him any less loyal to her, but threatened loyalties don’t have the same kind of earth-shattering power over him as they do over, say, Keith and Pidge.

He’s a situational secondary, but I have to go with Ravenclaw again here because he doesn’t have quite the Slytherin make-things-up-as-I-go tendency. And when everything hits the fan and he’s out of typical options he tends to panic instead of jumping on the duct tape and string and making something up on the fly. When we do see him improvise (e.g. that thing he did jumpstarting the Castle system with the bottle of alcohol at the end of S6) it’s with materials and data he’s noted and catalogued previously.

He definitely has a rather eclectic and not always useful mental hodgepodge of information, and he’s prone to get sidetracked on tangents about this or that interesting factoid. While not a scientist in the same sense that Pidge is, or dedicated to practicality like Allura, he still is curious and is happier the more he knows.

Krolia—Slytherin/Slytherin

This woman is a gorgeously unapologetic Slytherin primary and I love her for it. Her entire life is built around her deep motivation to protect those she loves most, especially Keith, and she demonstrates far more confidence and trust in the rightness of this drive and desire than he does. She may have a Gryffindor model for handling things outside of this primary—we don’t know what her reason for joining the Blades was, but although I can imagine several Slytherin motivations it could also have stemmed from a modeled Gryffindor idealism—but we haven’t had the chance to see much of anything except her Slytherin primary in canon.

I have to go with Slytherin secondary for Krolia, too. She seems to spend much of her time in her neutral state (and as such Lance may actually be able to learn a lot from her—I totally want to see her adopt our favorite blue boy and aggressively mother him to his wits’ end), which results in a beautiful bluntness that looks a lot like her son’s Gryffindor secondary. However, she sorts into the Slytherin secondary because she is a master of subtle manipulation and deception. Witness how effectively she’s able to integrate herself into not one but multiple high-profile Empire missions, manipulating the people around her into believing that she is entirely committed to the mission—and even getting them to self-destruct.

 Romelle—Gryffindor/Gryffindor

Dedicated to doing the right thing come hell or high water, Romelle exemplifies the Gryffindor primary. She distrusted Lotor based first on nothing but a gut feeling, and maintained that stance despite her brother’s protests (and all evidence) to the contrary. Then, when her brother’s death validated her concerns, she grieved, but she was also furious and determined not to let such a thing happen ever again. So when an opportunity arose to take Lotor down—offered by another half-Galra and a full Galra, no less—this Gryffindor secondary carpe diemed so hard she broke Lotor. I am so on board for her and Krolia teaming up, the best of Gryffindor and Slytherin united as a force to be reckoned with.

 Matt Holt—Gryffindor or Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw or Slytherin?

Sheesh, we just don’t have enough info for this guy. He doesn’t have quite the dedication to his people that you’d expect from a true Slytherin primary—see my analysis of Pidge—so not that. I kinda like the idea of him as a Gryffindor primary like his father, but I can also see him as a Hufflepuff or even maybe a Ravenclaw. As for his secondary… I’m leaning toward one of the improvisational ones, probably Ravenclaw, since he doesn’t really seem to have the role-switching and manipulativeness of a Slytherin. But he could be a Hufflepuff secondary with a Ravenclaw model… argh. We just don’t have enough canon info to sort him.

 Sam Holt—Gryffindor/Ravenclaw

One of my few exceptions to sorting people based on material from S7, Sam’s got a commitment to doing the right thing that breaks through even the somewhat laid-back, nerdy professorial persona he usually demonstrates (not an act, it’s just the way he is when he hasn’t had that Gryffindor passion stirred). This persona feeds from his Ravenclaw secondary, and though he may model Ravenclaw primary when in a science setting his love of truth is motivated by a deep belief that truth aligns with the right thing to do. (Interestingly enough, in a family of scientists, with the possible but unlikely exception of Matt, none of the Holts are Ravenclaw primaries. At least two secondaries, but no primaries. Yay for bucking stereotypes.)

 Colleen Holt—Slytherin/Gryffindor

Again an exception to my desire not to use any material past S6, this sorting is also based a bit on my own headcanons and plans for this character. Colleen is devoted to her family before anything and everything else, and she’s willing to tear apart institutions, governments, and other people if that’s what it takes to protect her loved ones. She’s got an Irish passion as befits her name, and that passion is focused entirely on her husband and children. She’s incredibly direct about this passion, too, cutting right to the heart of things instead of weaving around and greasing up the problem the way Krolia does, though she’s certainly willing and able to at least assist with subterfuge. She helped Katie get into the Garrison, after all.

 Lotor—Ravenclaw/Slytherin

Lotor has constructed a belief system that is totally foreign to every other character in the show, comfortable in the dichotomies and contradictions of that belief system and convinced that everything he does is for some vague greater good—a good he, conveniently, gets to define. He has sought truth and information, certainly, as befits a Ravenclaw primary, but instead of trying to learn the way things truly are and shape his beliefs around the reality he uncovers he has created a system built upon his own desires about the way he wants the world to be. It is beautiful in a terrifying way—a man so thoroughly convinced that he is right that he’s willing to harvest the very life-force of others in order to further his ends, convinced that this is the right thing to do and that not doing so would be a failing on his part.

He exemplifies the ultimate levels of Slytherin manipulativeness and role-shifting, to the point where he seems to have deceived himself into believing in some of the masks he puts on (e.g. the noble hero who sacrifices the few for the sake of the many). When the masks are finally all stripped away at the end of S6, he hates what he sees so much that he can’t accept that what lies beneath is truly him. It is someone else’s fault, it is because someone else has denied what he wanted, and so he lashes out.

This guy is kind of evil Lance, which is a really frightening thought—and probably part of why Lance seemed to dislike him the most out of the whole team (aside from Lance’s crush on Allura). Lance was possibly able to see, at least subconsciously, through some of the scheming and persona, something like “if that were me I wouldn’t trust myself”. I wish we’d seen more of them going intellectually head to head. Having two sides of the same coin pushing at each other—one who’s had centuries to delve for truth and has chosen to use that time and knowledge to shape his beliefs the way he wants them to be, not as things are, the other who is not yet twenty but despite his facades and many broken wishes tries to take the world as it is and is willing to accept truths he doesn’t like—man, that would just be fantastic to watch. And a great chance for Lance to shine.

 Zarkon—Gryffindor/Hufflepuff

This is largely speculation and mostly based on what we see in the flashback episode, but… Zarkon, at least in his younger years, had the gut instinct thing going as a leader, and he put his nose to the grindstone and plowed ahead with a course of action once it had his convictions behind it. Witness his very much felt dedication to Honerva and her cause—investigating the rift—despite any evidence to the contrary. Obviously he got his priorities screwed up, but the passion he put into his decisions really feels Gryffindor to me, coupled with the rooted stubbornness and the community building of the Hufflepuff secondary (note how readily the other original paladins respond to him as a commander).

I actually don’t think he’s burned his Gryffindor primary by the time we get to the show’s present day. Quite a few of his decisions—e.g. dragging off one of his generals based on very little evidence, as the guy actually made a decent strategic move all things considered—feel like they’re being made based on feeling versus logic (or anything else). Again, the guy’s obviously got his priorities and methods screwed up, but the Gryffindor primary MO is there. He looks like he may have shifted to Gryffindor secondary, or at least a model, but I think that’s more because he’s got a (not unfounded) high opinion of his own prowess in combat, so he charges right in ready to hack enemies to pieces. This actually only backfires on him once Shiro gets the black bayard back and Voltron is able to stab Zarkon with the flaming sword. (Haven’t watched the Zarkon vs. Lotor fight lately so I can’t call anything based on that.)

So all things considered I think Zarkon is an example of what happens when a Gryffinpuff (I’m convinced the Lions have types, by the way) falls—not burns, but falls. Goes bad. Uses his ability to inspire for evil purposes instead of good, and denies evidence that the course he’s set himself on is wrong. In all likelihood, considering this sorting’s penchant for gathering people close to them and relying on those people, I would imagine that bad influences contribute in a large degree to this fall—at the very least because the Gryffinpuff can’t bring himself to acknowledge that he’s been wrong about his beliefs, choices, and loyalties once problems start cropping up.

 Honerva/Haggar—Ravenclaw/Ravenclaw

One of the very first things we hear Honerva say is a dismissive comment about any knowledge that doesn’t stem from science: “our ancestors thought lightning was shot from the bows of the gods until science proved otherwise”—in other words, if we haven’t studied it, tested it, poked at it, that knowledge is suspect at best. She is dedicated to her alchemical work beyond any bounds of reason, pursuing truth in such an obsessive, reckless way that she jeopardizes and ultimately brings about the destruction of her husband’s planet. She’s the sort of scientist who thinks that if we can do it we should do it—truth is to be pursued at all costs, and all possibilities must be explored. While in theory noble, this Ravenclaw primary drive needs to be tempered with reason to prevent injury and loss of life. Honerva refuses to listen to reason and so dooms herself and millions of others.

This primary is so overpowering that we don’t really get a good feel for her secondary, but she’s got a methodical approach to things that suggests Ravenclaw. We don’t actually see her much in situations where everything’s hit the fan and she has to pick up the pieces, but the one time this happens—at the end of S2, when Allura faces her down and destroys the quintessence-draining device—Haggar can’t improvise fast enough to prevent it from happening, and seems to short circuit when something unexpected happens. So she’s got plenty of knowledge and data, but if something falls outside any and all operational systems that she possesses, she can’t really make something up on the fly. I really don’t think she could be a Hufflepuff secondary, because despite her methodical way of functioning she doesn’t have the community-building qualities of a Puff. She really doesn’t seem interested in people at all, actually, having friends and family but willing to jeopardize those people and relationships for pursuit of knowledge. Definitely not a Hufflepuff.

 Sendak—Gryffindor/Gryffindor, Slytherin, or Ravenclaw

Really not sure on this guy, though I do get a passionately evil Gryffindor primary vibe off him. Kinda Jayne Cobb from Firefly. And potentially any secondary except Hufflepuff. I think. Slytherin doesn’t seem all that likely either, though, so I’m going to guess at a straight Gryffindor.

 Alfor—Slytherin/Gryffindor

Further evidence that the Lions have a type, Alfor shares the Slytherdor combo with Keith. He’s a lot more cheerful and optimistic about it than Keith, at least in his younger years, and he sometimes seems to charge more as a lark than a grim necessity, trusting his friends to bail him out if he gets in over his head. That’s not to say he’s irresponsible—he seems to be a highly competent and reasonable ruler and alchemist—but when he’s got loyal companions backing him up he’s much more willing to go, “Hey guys, bet I can’t do this!” and jump headlong into something crazy.

It is his Slytherin primary that gets him into trouble when Zarkon and Honerva start to slip. Loyal to a fault, Alfor is willing to give his trusted friends the benefit of the doubt, assuming that they know what they’re doing. He is devoted to those he holds dear and is optimistic enough that he doesn’t see their faults until it’s too late.

I do suspect that he burned at least his secondary, because the few glimpses we see of his last hours suggests a much more worn, damaged person than the enthusiastic young king we first met. He may have even burned his primary, at least to a degree, though he remained loyal to at least Allura.

 Iverson—Gryffindor/Gryffindor or Hufflepuff

I can see much younger Iverson and Sam Holt bonding over their shared primary, gung-ho about the world and space and adventure with Sam providing the Ravenclaw brains and Iverson providing the inspirational enthusiasm. His secondary could go either way, I think—we don’t get to see him in action much, and the one time we do, when he stands up to defend the Holts against the admiral (again breaking my past S6 rule), it’s driven from his passionate Gryffindor primary. Though he’s a very direct sort of person, suggesting a Gryffindor secondary, I could also see him as a rough-around-the-edges Gryffinpuff in the same vein as Shiro. Their friendship is important to me.

 Slav—Ravenclaw/Ravenclaw

This crazy genius is the most eccentric Ravenclaw of all time. In all his speculations about realities, pursuing truth in an unbelievably intellectual way, he’s become so disconnected from this reality that he just doesn’t seem to be functioning on ground level with everyone else. He is all about systems, methodologies, poking and testing and experimenting and running analyses on the statistical likelihood of X event happening in this reality. Brilliant, insane Ravenclaw all the way.

Anyway, that’s it. Hope you enjoyed!

#sortinghatchats #vld #shiro #allura #lance #keith #pidge #coran #krolia #season 6

[eternitas]

Voltron Dance Academy AU

okay for this hear me out: I am not a professional dancer and I know jack shit about dancing but this is a fun thing spooking in my brain for a while now so bear with me please okay? okay

It’s headcanon time!

An AU where everyone is a dancer and shit

Basically there are two majour big dance academies in Altea: Voltron and Galra

It all starts by the Garrison closing down and the crew having to find a new dance academy.

Lance, Hunk and Pidge were put in a trio back in Garrison and therefore know each other and for comfort Pidge goes to see Matt and Hance join bc what else to do?

Keith is with Shiro and just “wat now”

so Shiro is just “Well Matt and I will just unwind tonight, wanna come?”

 And somehow they all end up at this open dance night, where they just have their fun and all dance a bit, until the club anounces the dance stage open for the more brave guys. 

Lance runs onto the now free dancefloor only to bump into this chick.

LO AND BEHOLD IT’S OUR GIRL BLUE

But the music aready starts and they roll wth it

Lance thought he is a great dancer, but oh boi, this girl leaves him in the dust with her precise and lively steps he is absolutely WOOED

If he is a level 10 dancer she exceeds the 70 Level line by far

Still everyone cheers them on and it’s super much fun!

Especially because both have a lot of fun together and despite not knowing each other and improvising a lot they click and dance pretty well together

Even if Blue is the one leading and hogging most of the spotlight

Shiro notices a few more people at the sidelines who seem to be with the girl, cheering for her (aside of this one chick who looks grumpy af all the time)

The next song comes on and a pretty small girl and a giant come forth bringing some BANGING JAZZ and michael jackson style steps to the floor (fedora and vest included)

They do all the stuff, from tap dance, jive, swing- a wild mixture, but stylish af

The song ends and Shiro sees the grumpy girl of the group return from the DJ. He wats to hold Keith back, but the guy already sprints onto the stage and almost clashes with this smaller girl (guess who)

And oh boi as the music sets in she gives such quick ballet moves Keith is left in the dust like Lance prior

Of course this is Keith, he aint going down without a fight and show off his own skills, but she owns the stage with her grace, as if she is flying over it, as if gravity doest exist

Keith “I dance ballet almost my entire life” Kogane is put in place by nobody else but this chick he never met and he is both furius and absolutely stunned

“Let’s get a big applause for the one and only Red Lioness of Voltroooon!”

Shiro: Voltron? Lance: Hold up! Isn’t Voltron that prestigeous dance academy?

“And now exclusevely just for this night The Lions of Voltron with their debut choreography!”

Nobody of them knows what the f is going on, but the music starts and they witness an absolutely epic dance group performanc led by this one young woman with the short black hair

It’s as if they all are one entity, their moves precise and totally synched up. 

Not only the synchrone parts, but the place swaps, the double moments, the acrobatic movements, it’s absolutely fitting and a perfect picture.

It leaves the crew absolutely stunned

The club goes back to it’s usual routine and everyone disperses.

Pidge runs at Matt (who had probably his third vodka lemon in hands) and fangirled about those quick jazz steps, the smooth movements of that very small girl that was dancing

he just nods and slurps his drink because yes mhm i have no idea what is happening, but yes let’s give my little sis some acknowledgement, god I am so drunk where is Shiro I need an adult

Hunk and Lance were basically not even listening at each other and just talking in one big waterfall about how AMAZING that just was

and Shiro quickly follows Keith who makes a B line to the girl he danced again

“What’s your name and where did you learn to dance like that?”

Red just turns to him absolutely unamused and scoffs

“Excuse me?”

Blue makes a face and gives a short whistle, but before a fight breaks out Black and Shiro pull their hotheads back

“Scarlet/Keith”

The two look at each other andd exchange soft smiles

“I’m sorry, he’s-” “It’s okay, I get it. Maybe we could talk outside?” “Yeah good idea.”

The others notice Shiro and Keith leaving and quickly travel behind.

Lance just leans against Hunk and gives Blue a charming smile

“Hey gorgeous.” And she smirks back just as flirty. “Hey there handsome~”

Count Lancce absolutely LOVESTRUCK

Red just keeps glaring at Keith and murmuring “This is ridiculous, let’s just leave.”

And before Shiro and Black can really talk a loud “There you are!” has the lions turn around, Blue just groaning annoyed.

Entrance Allura and Coran

Did I say Blue had Lance lovestruck? Oh no, boi just fell in love at first sight ho mama mia

Blue: Allura PLEASE Black: Olea, just don’t.

Allura just talks in one flow to Black about how they can’t just leave during an open end night and how they still had practice yare yare

“Allura, I get that, but we all needed a small break, just a little... change of pace, we’ve been practicing the routine non stop for the entire day.”

Cue the Crew feeling a bit awkward and third wheelie.

“And who are these guys?”

Lance: your future lover~ Green: he wished Blue: pFT

“Um, my name is Shiro. We actually just saw them all dance and heared they are called the Lions of Voltron so we... got a bit curious if they meant the academy of Voltron...”

Hunk explains that the Garrison had to be closed down and that all of them were looking for a new dance school

and immideatly everyones miens change

Red: good luck with your search then. Black jut puts two fingers to her lips to shut her up.

“Actually...” She starts with a smile and then Allura approuches them as well.

“This is actually great timing... How about we invite you to apply for Voltron?”

Some character info dumb and more word building under the cut

Blue: aka Oleander Alvaro

Called Olly or Olea by most

Specializes in Latino and hip hop

Dubbed the Blue Lion of Voltron, being in Lion Class by now

Extremely outgoing and goofy, but also very emotional and ready to throw some fists if necesary

despite seeming to have her shit together she is absolutely NOT OKAY

why be okay herself when she can make sure her crew and friends are okay? : )))))

Usually seen with her hair in a ponytail tho ofc v stylish with enough short hair framing her face

Very wavey/curly hair

absolute latino beauty

She and Red may “not get along”, but when dancing they are one entity

The dances she does with Yellow are usually just for fun, beause they have chemistry

Has no problem dancing leading parts

Green: aka Silvana Forest

for some reason people only call her Forest?

Specializes in Swing and Jazz/Tap-dance

Wears contacts, but glasses when tired

Dubbed the Green lion of Voltron

a tiny with barely 157cm

Makes a lot of compicated choreographys and steps, sometimes even acrobatic stunts

The crews intelligent brain and data manager

She likes to film practice and analyze steps to give scientific and objective tips for improvements

She usually dances pair with Yellow, but also likes to have story choreographies with Red

Snarky lil shit and dubbed ”gremlin” by Blue

You think she chill? Nah bruh she’s gona roast you if she sees fit. Totally no filter and will make you feel like shitp urely with words because she CAN

Yellow: aka Sun Désert

“All your puns on my name? I heared them already”

Specializes mostly in very traditional and classic dances like Waltz and polka and stuff

Always dances the leading parts for pairs and can adapt perfectly to everyones style

dubbed the Yellow Lion of Voltron

Such a big silent and fluffy man. Very teddy bear. Cuddles are always welcome

Basically the heart of the crew and the only male

knows how to party and have fun, but is quick to be the repsonisble mom friend (i mean he’s best friends with BLUE)

Blue uploaded Sun and Forest dancing jive on Elton Johns I’m still standing and it blew up quite positively being the starting point of putting the Lions on the radar for people

Big burly black man dancing with a tiny white girl it’s the cutest and funnies image.

He’s usully very chill but if you manage to fuck up and get him angry you have a storm coming boi

Red: aka Scarlet Rose

Aside of Black nobody calls her Scarlet, always only Red. Probably becase of her RED HAIR AND HER NTIRE NAME SCREAMING R E D

Has been dancing ballet almost her entire life but at some point she didn’t want to just dance ballet.

Actually she used to go to the Galra Academy, but then she met Alfor and... well she quit and applied to Voltron

(I have an entire post idea or her backstory so stay tuned)

Specializes in Blallet and Modern, but has a good grip on tango and other latino dances thanks to Blue

the second big Lion video was Greens recording of Reds debut solo on this song  but it was also her “trial” to see if she will stay on Voltron because he two academies have different philosophies

Obviously she was accepted

Silent but different than Sun

DANCING IS LIFE

she will dance as much as she can and always be rather practicing than anything else

gets easily frustrated with herself and prefers to dance soli than doubles

easy to aggravate and high tension 25/8

Her standarts for someone to call themselves a dancer are incredibly high

still the crew loves and values her even if their start with red were very difficult

Black: aka Noir Schwarz

Specializes in honestly everything. You give her a song and she will dance to it

She is the one making the group choreograhies

leader of the crew and the BIG MOM/BIG SIS

she has a very strong bond to everyone, but the strongest to Red as they BOTH had started at Galra and know each other the longest

used to dance a lot of pairs and duos with Zarkon but they... fell out

long story

since back then Noir suffers of chronic pain in her back and shoulders that it sometimes makes it hard for her to dance

she shoulders a lot of the problems in the group and sometimes there are fights because she is being too forgiving and nice to the bullshit that happens to her

“I have to stay strong for everyone.... I just have to keep up for the others.”

She helps out the others with their routines and will jump in for duos and the like if they are in a pinch

never complains about that stuff

“I got this.” She doesn’t got this

Infos about Voltron and Galra

Voltron is an old academy run by Leonard Weiss

He wanted for Alfor to join the comitee once he finished his course but Alfor had a terrible accident and is now on recovery rehab overseas, now Allura tries to live up to her fathers legacy

Corran does EVERYTHING, without him the school wouldn’t be able to run at all

The whole study goes for 5 years all devided in different named classes with “Lion” being the currently 5th and last class

The schools philosophy is less on the accuracy of steps and how technically well you dance and more on what feelings you can convey (thats why Red was on trial for an etire year. Her steps and technique were flawless but she seemed like a puppet)

who graduates from Voltron as a bright future to them

but because of Galra being so popular and their entire schoolbody doing anything to make Voltron seem bad and like a joke of a school their applications are almost none. 

Actually the current lions and Allura are currently their only students????;;;;;

meanwhile Galra is about to be the one dominating school in the entire city and around. Thing is that they are incredibly racist and basically the entire system is bullshit. If you aren’t on the same level as their best students you are immideatly inferior and will be made down, if you are no bowing to the tyrany of the Galra then you’ll have a bad time my riend

Voltron is strict and hard but they are “human” in that sense

but if by the time the Lion class graduates they don’t have more students the school will be closed and... well goodbye Voltron

That’s why they are fighting so hard

Altean Class exams

1st Class- a Duo, a soli, 1 group choreography (end of year)

2nd Class - 2 duo, two soli, 2 group choreography (3 times a year)

3rd Class - 3 duo, 3 soli, 2 group choreographies (3 times a year)

4th Class - 3 duo, 3 soli, 3 group choreographies (3 times a year)

5th Class - the Castapendio also known as Alchemy Trial requirements: 2 classical pieces, 2 modern of those 2 duo, 2 soli, 2 group choreographies + 2 completely free dances (makes 8 dances in total) at the end of the year To practice for the Alchemy Trial the 5th Class has no additional classes to hold.

#voltron #v:ld #vld #voltron: legendary defender #takashi shirogane #keith kogane #lance mcclain #pidge gunderson #katie holt #hunk garrett #matt holt #allura #corran #voltron dance academy au #miis bullshi

[squirenonny]

Hey :) Just saw a swap au by a very talented artist (iacediai) and idk if you already know about it, but I'd loooove to read your thoughts! Have a nice day/evening/night!

Ahh! Yes! I’ve seen that post. It’s actually sitting in my drafts waiting to be queued, because I p much add things to my queue in batches of 100-200 about once a month. (Here’s a link for anyone who’s not sure what we’re talking about.)

First of all, A++ designs, I love them so very much. Loverboy Hunk and Sunshine Pidge are probably my favs, but I love them all.

I don’t have thoughts specifically about that role swap combination, but a while ago I saw pepplemint’s role-swapped!Lance art, and boy did that give me ideas. Specifically for a limited role swap AU where the only real *swap* is that Lance went to Kerberos in Shiro’s place.

Lance and Keith trained under Shiro after graduating from the Garrison. They were rivals, not least of all because Keith and Shiro were so obviously friends that Lance felt ignored outside of training

Shiro was originally supposed to pilot for the Kerberos mission but was in a car crash or something similar that injured his arm to the point he needed to have it amputated. This was, like, six months before launch, so at first the mission is just delayed–there’s no one to take Shiro’s place, and everyone at first is hoping that if the Garrison pays for the top of the line prosthetic maybe Shiro will still be able to go. (After all, they’ve already pumped so much money into this mission and into Shiro specifically.)

But Shiro’s recovery is slow, and PTSD + reduced dexterity mean he just can’t fly at the same level as before. So the Garrison decides they’re going to find a new pilot and have Shiro train them, since he knows better than anyone what this mission is going to require.

This is about the time the show would have started–one year after the original launch date. And the Garrison needs some gimmick for the media to “salvage” the mission from a PR standpoint. Shiro was literally the face of the Kerberos mission, and the public is more concerned about his recovery than the Garrison’s expedition (which is… you know, a good thing? But the Garrison cares about the publicity. They want the Kerberos mission to drive recruitment and all that.)

So they go to the next graduating class of fighter pilots and say, “Hey, guess what? One of you is going to be the youngest solo pilot in history, and you’re going to go farther than anyone else has ever gone. Ready? Cool. Now duke it out for your spot on this crew.”

(In more PR-friendly terms, obviously, but that’s the intent.)

Keith and Lance are the two top contenders, so both get to undergo training with Shiro. They’ll both have the full training, just in case there’s another car accident or something, and the Garrison is running it almost like a reality show, getting the public invested in the Big Question of Who’s going to pilot the mission???

The decision is ultimately Shiro’s, and he’s as pissed off about the spectacle of it as Keith is. (Lance, conversely, is absolutely loving the attention.) He doesn’t know what the public opinion is, and frankly, he doesn’t care. (It’s about 60-40 favoring Lance, but the Garrison bigwigs are split the opposite way, because Keith is Iverson’s golden boy the same way Shiro was–just a little less inclined to put up with bullshit.)

Lance is sure Shiro’s going to pick Keith. Frankly? So is Keith. Both of them are shocked when Shiro picks Lance.

Lance and Keith have a big fight after it’s announced, and they didn’t talk once in the last month before launch.

It’s now about two years later than canonverse–Lance is 20 for most of the mission, but they launch when he’s still 19, purely for the headline “Teen Pilots Landmark Mission to Kerberos”

The Galra still attack, and the disaster still goes down in history as pilot error.

Pidge didn’t have to sneak into the Garrison–she entered openly a year before the mission launched, has her own crew, and is the top communications cadet in the Garrison. She wants to wreck shit when Sam, Matt, and Lance are declared dead, but Shiro talks her down. (He stayed friends with the Holts even after he was removed from the mission, and through him Pidge knows Keith.)

So Pidge takes a week or two off from classes to grieve and to talk with Keith, both of them stoking the flames of their anger. Pidge doesn’t buy the official story and when she returns to classes she starts hacking the Garrison computers–secretly–looking for the truth.

Keith, in contrast, fully believes Lance was at fault and blames him for killing Pidge’s family. He doesn’t think any of them survived, and he has no outlet for his anger, so he starts going on long flights into the desert–which is where he stumbles upon the Blue Lion’s cave.

Hunk graduated along with Keith and Lance, having been Lance’s engineer as in canon. He spent the year/year and a half after graduation working on Garrison ships, but when Lance “dies” he quits and opens a restaurant/gets a job as head chef at a restaurant instead. He can’t stand working at the place that reminds him of his best friend.

Shiro is a regular patron at Hunk’s restaurant, and the two are pretty good friends, all things considered. He knows Pidge and Keith distantly–Keith mostly as “Lance’s rival who’s actually a pretty cool guy” and Pidge as “Shiro’s friend who’s always on her computer looking at technical diagrams.”

Pidge and Keith both wind up at the crash site in the desert as they do in canon. Lance has visible scars and a white streak in his hair, but he has a cybernetic eye and maybe a prosthetic leg, too, instead of the arm Shiro has. Keith and Pidge break Lance out mostly to get answers about the Holts, and once they have him, they kind of panic because, hello, they’re now fugitives.

Keith calls Shiro and tells him exactly nothing except that Lance is at their shack in the desert. Shiro was at Hunk’s restaurant when he got the call, and Hunk overhears. He rips off his apron and demands that Shiro bring him along, so the five of them are once more all together in the Blue Lion’s cave when she chooses Shiro.

Shiro still kind of thinks of himself as Lance’s mentor and it takes a while for them to get used to the changes. Because Shiro is still happy and mostly healthy and he wants to protect the younger paladins, Lance especially, but he can’t deny that Lance is far more suited to protecting the rest of them. He knows the enemy, he has practice fighting, he’s a scary good sniper and just as deadly in the heat of battle. Lance ultimately becomes the team’s leader, while Shiro acts as their emotional support.

There’s also friction among the younger paladins–a much deeper rooted conflict between Keith and Lance than in the show, and Pidge’s festering resentment about the Kerberos mission (she knows it’s not Lance’s fault, but she and Keith fueled each other, so she can’t quite let it go). Hunk is 100% on Team Lance, so he initially doesn’t get along well with Keith or Pidge, and Lance just isn’t interested in repairing bridges other people burned for him. It falls to Shiro to play peacemaker and get them all on the same page.

And yeah, idk where the plot goes from there except more or less the same way canon goes, but there’s lots of angst. ^.^’

#voltron #vld #role swap au #idk if this is what you were looking for #but my ideas have a tendency to sprint off in their own direction #lol #champion lance #black paladin lance #blue paladin shiro #ch: this is your moment #ch: no one commands the black lion #ch: i know who i am #ch: sporse code #ch: this kid is a genius #arotp: you really want me to answer that? #this is OUR team #anon #answers #long post #fic ideas

[sp4c3-0ddity]

tagged by @hailkuvira and @amillionsmiles. thanks!! <3

tagging uhhhh who have i somewhat interacted with that writes and hasn’t been tagged already uh @magical-merlance, @cosmicdusttrails, @tiredgaykeith, @rueitae, @elby9001, @ anyone else that wrote fic this year and wants to take a stab at it??

STATS:

Fics posted:  they’re all...VLD

Tumblr exclusives:  my fic tag for your viewing pleasure. but here’s a list of everything (i think) that i didn’t also post on ao3 (with the exception of a few that will be posted probably within the next week):

Misnomer, a crack fic

a euphoric plance kiss that i just wrote on a text post i reblogged

a Cupid AU plance ficlet i also wrote based on a text post

ficlet about Acxa, Ezor, and Zethrid after Lotor escapes them

Pidge getting Love Advice from Lance, also an addition to someone else’s text post

How I think Hunk learned Pidge is a girl, with a teeny tiny bit of plance because it’s a section of a plance fic i meant to finish that i’ve since lost this is why you save/back up your work often

Outtakes from ‘Howl at the Moon’

A The Wizard of Oz AU (honestly bless the anon that prompted this)

A shallura hurt/comfort prompt fill

Whatever the hell this is, all i know is that it’s gen but still involves kissing and is kinda a crack fic

FF.Net:  N/A

Archive of Our Own:  i’ll just go with oldest first like i did in the last section

Give a Little (5859 words), fake dating, my first posted plance fic

Ship to Wreck (3544 words), gen (despite the title hehe), sailor/age of (western) exploration-type Pidge-centric AU

Spectrum (9562 words), gen, a Wheel of Time/fantasy AU

Winging It (2187 words), gen, fun canon-verse fic where they race paper airplanes

A Slip of the Thumb (18697 words), plance, wrong number/text modern AU

Break a Leg and Other Cliches (29293 words), plance, modern ballroom dance competition AU

Incompatible Schedules (1025 words), plance, canon-verse fluff

All’s Fair in Love and Gaming (653 words), plance, canon-verse fluff

Be Gentle (4881 words), plance, canon-verse body swap AU

If Wishes Were Fishes (1167 words), plance, canon-verse vaguely bittersweet beach fic

Lightning Round (3003 words), plance, canon-verse battle couple in training fic

Build on Shaky Ground (3337 words), gen/plance (platonic), kinda angsty Garrison era

Unknowable (562 words), plance, canon-verse philosophical fluff

Wisdom of Hindsight (1344 words), plance, canon-verse angst

Caught (2727 words), plance, canon-verse lovebug AU

In Time (724 words), pallura, canon-verse hurt/comfort

The Art of Seduction (2075 words), plance, canon-verse fluff

Falling’s Not the Problem (26179 words), plance, future canon angst with a happy ending sorta thing

Smuggle Your Heart (21931 words), plance, Star Wars-ish AU

Pocket of Space (6203 words), kallura, a Vorkosigan Saga-ish AU that’s kinda...languishing at the moment

Howl at the Moon (10271 words), plance, future canon undercover fake marriage thing

Failure to Launch (1740 words), gen, Sam & Coran hurt/comfort and feels in general

Specter (18325 words), plance, future canon AU, and, um, major character death fic

What Not to Do in Chemistry Lab (2458 words), gen, modern/college AU with my chemist Hunk headcanons

Search and Rescue (1684 words), gen, pre-canon baby Holts fluff

Shopping for Disaster (6108 words), gen, canon-verse Allura & Pidge bonding-gone-wrong fic

Ink on a Page (8807 words*), gen, Pidge-centric Inkheart AU

In the Making (8184 words), plance, canon-verse/future canon ~over the years~ kinda thing

Strangeness and Charm (73407 words*), plance, a collection of prompts cross-posted from tumblr so they’re really a bunch of individual fics but i’ll count them as one for now

*word count not entirely accurate because subsequent chapters are complete but not posted

Total number:  39 (counting S&C as one fic) Total word count:  288,132 part of me wishes i was making this up

Ship/Character breakdown: Ship breakdown:  plance, undoubtedly, wins; gen stuff takes second place. then there’s the odd shallura/kallura/pallura stuff (i like all Allura ships so) Character breakdown:  hmm. Pidge and Lance dominate, obviously. Pidge also tends to dominate by gen stuff, with Allura possibly coming in second. Poor Shiro and Keith (though i still love them) kinda......lose

Characters that had the main focus: Pidge in much of my plance and gen stuff, Lance in much of my plance stuff, Allura in a decent amount of my gen stuff as well as in that languishing kallura fic

Specifics:

Best/worst title? Best title:  None really jump out at me, but I think‘Build on Shaky Ground’. Also before i suffer some serious post-posting (hehe) embarrassment, I’ve titled this brand-spanking new fic ‘The Start of Something New?’ (the question mark is compulsory) and i’m way too proud of myself for that reference to HSM at the moment. Honorable mention to ‘Search and Rescue’ for sounding more serious than the fic’s plot actually is

Worst title:  I’m actually displeased with most, but only ‘Smuggle Your Heart’ makes me cringe every time I see it

Best/worst first line? Best:  not sure but as i look now the first line from this fic gave me a good laugh:

Lance thought that after two years in space fighting furry purple aliens while flying a sentient robot lion that merged with four other sentient robot lions to form one large robot man nothing could possible surprise him.

Worst:  if i actually took the time to look through all my fics, i’d probably find so many awful first lines, but i’m too lazy so this one is a weak first line from my one and only shallura fic:

Shiro had never seen Matt and Pidge happier.

Best/worst last line? Best:  uh to be honest i think they’re all kinda bad but here are a couple funny ones (from this and this) that don’t require much work on my part sorry i’m lazy:

Lance watched him go for a tic, shrugged, and went off in search of someone else to bother, preferably someone he would not mind kissing.

“It was strange enough that I actually don’t want to forget, so listen closely, because I won’t tell it twice.”

Worst:  point at any one of my fics. i’m never happy with the Last Line. but here from Shopping for Disaster (it makes sense in context):

He still wrote the ticket.

General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

I wrote...way more

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

definitely VLD in general, because i was still...hesitant to get into it?? i didn’t watch it till spring of this year 2017 a few months after season 2 came out, i think What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

There’s this one (named ‘Siren Song’) that has yet to be posted into my collection on ao3 and it’s a concept i very much want to expand into a fully fledged long fic. and, to be honest, i thought it would get more notes than it did

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

By tumblr notes, this one ('A Sticky Situation’ on ao3) takes the cake with 168 notes

By kudos/bookmarks/comments on ao3, that would be A Slip of the Thumb with 225 kudos and 31 bookmarks

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

Me, constantly:  I write gen fic too guys (in all seriousness, my Inkheart AU is going to be great)

Story that could have been better?

Can i say all of them?? No?? Okay, taking recent fic into account (because i do think i’ve improved overall even in the last few months), i wish i’d spent more time and put more effort into ‘Shopping for Disaster’, especially with making the action scenes more plausible, making the Druid scarier (because i want to get better at writing horror, believe it or not), etc. Pro tip though:  don’t write while you have a headache

And actually now that i think of it, I would scrap all of ‘Wisdom of Hindsight’ because it’s awful and uses a trope i really hate

Sexiest story?

sex?? in my fanfic??

but anyway!! hmm...’The Art of Seduction’ probably had the most graphic (except also not really) makeout scene. ‘Propriety’ (part of the collection) was almost definitely the most suggestive. ‘Howl at the Moon’ had the double whammy of a fakeout makeout and a fake marriage along with the kiss at the very end of the fic. so i dunno, i guess it’s in the eye of the beholder??

as far as vibe is concerned though, i actually think ‘Smuggle Your Heart’ is kinda...sexy?? *shrugs* Saddest story?

‘Specter’ without a doubt. *cue evil laughter* Most fun?

‘Smuggle Your Heart’ was actually wildly fun to write. i was really into action scenes at the time

Story with single sweetest moment?

not sure, but in my humble opinion it would the majority of ‘Burnout’ (also from the collection), particularly this sizeable bit:

Pidge would never admit it to anyone - except to Lance himself, maybe - but she liked it when he clung to her like this, or when she latched herself onto him. There was just something soothing about having another human body pressed against hers, a balm for the mind and a relaxant for the muscles.

Some of the tension trickled out of her as she leaned back into Lance, and his arms tightened around her, sensing her need.

“Guess what?” Lance said, voice soft and close to her ear.

“…did Coran get his hand stuck in something weird again?”

Lance rubbed his nose - scratching, probably - against the side of her head, then chuckled, the vibration reverberating from his chest into her back. “No,” he said. “Try again.”

“Hunk figured out a way to imitate peanut butter?”

“All right, you get one more guess before I tell you.”

Pidge rolled her eyes but said, “Did you finally find out how to swim in the upside down pool?”

“Oh, ha ha, very funny, Pidge,” Lance grumbled.

For some reason, that made her giggle, if only because the image of Lance’s last pitiful attempt to swim laps in the Castle’s pool cheered her.

“So…what?” Pidge said, turning her head slightly so that Lance could see her frown. Of course he would dangle a mystery in front of her without giving her a chance to solve it…

“I love you,” he said, pressing a doting kiss to her forehead.

Pidge’s face flushed, pleased and embarrassed all at the same time, her worries dissolving as easily as sugar in hot tea. “So?” she said, trying to show him how unaffected she was. “I love you too, so it’s not that special.”

“But you are, Pidge,” Lance said. He buried his face in her hair. “You’re special, and smart, and confident, and we wouldn’t be able to function without you. And anytime you’re faced with a challenge, it bows down to you, its queen - wait, no, it’s empress.”

Pidge laughed and rubbed her face. “Oh my God, Lance,” she said. “That’s the cheesiest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“But it’s true,” Lance insisted. “And I know for a fact you love being praised.”

“Well…”

Lance let go of her and moved away, and Pidge missed him instantly…at least until he knelt on the floor next to her, putting him at below eye level in relation to her. He cupped her face, gently, and made sure she met his eyes. “You’re amazing, Pidge, and when you crack this code, we’ll all sing your praises.”

Pidge rested her forehead against his, reaching behind him to bury her hands in his hair. “But especially you, right?”

He smirked. “I’ll be the loudest one.”

Lance then kissed her, so softly it wasn’t much more than a warm brush of lips, and he pulled back before her eyes even closed. “Also,” he added, with a slow, sly smile, “it wouldn’t hurt to take a break, right?”

Hardest story to write?

This borderline crack fic that had a shippy premise but the prompter challenged me to write gen for it. i succeeded (i think), but was it worth it?? probably

Easiest/most fun story to write?

They’re all fun to a certain degree, but this The Wizard of Oz AU was great fun once I hit my stride. also honorable mention to ‘Smuggle Your Heart’, of which i wrote about 17k words in one day in a hyperfocusing haze (i didn’t sleep till 3 AM that day and i would’ve skipped dinner if my parents hadn’t reminded me).

(i haven’t had a day so productive yet inefficient since)

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

I actually....disliked Lance until i started shipping plance, and then my love for him only grew the more i wrote him lol. even season 1 Lance can be fun to write now, if only because he’s so ridiculous

Most overdue story?

hmm, perhaps something like ‘Failure to Launch’ because there’s a lot to explore in the adultier adults important to Team Voltron, particularly what Sam - the dad - might feel about his pretty young children getting sucked into a fight like this. but *shrugs*

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

not really?? i...kinda played it safe?? perhaps ‘Ink on a Page’ is my riskiest venture to date because it’s a long fic and i have a poor track record with long fic that i start posting before finishing. hopefully i’m learning discipline and like actually finishing things

also i think ‘Specter’ was pretty risky, as would be writing anything i really have very little experience in feeling, plus people tend to feel very strongly about major character deaths and i was unsure how people (particularly people i interact with) would receive it. and i guess i learned that it’s okay to take risks?? i was pleased with the way the fic turned out (even if it broke my heart to write it), and it was sorta begging me to be written (you know that itch you get when a story wants out??). and ultimately i’m writing for myself...but it’s still nice when other people like your writing too

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

Finish ‘Ink on a Page’

Finish and post my definitely unconventional The Holiday AU that’s currently languishing as a Word doc of about 20k words

Write something amazing for the plance zine

Expand/write my sailor AU (of which ‘Siren Song’ is the prelude)

Write a slow burn plance fic (to be fair, The Holiday AU and the sailor AU are looking to be slow burn, of sorts)

Maybe...not write so much by the seat of my pants, be less impulsive and more thoughtful, outline more but remain flexible, be more efficient so i don’t burnout, push myself to write even when i’m not feeling ‘inspired’

Not compare myself to other writers (sad but true)

write for a different fandom/pairing?? who even knows at this point

#this got really long whoops #qna #thank you for the tags though!! #this was so much fun #but God i'm still only just understanding how disorganized i am #and the fact that i forget so much of what i write is kinda sad #so answers may not be entirely accurate #reem writes fic #plance #because let's face it that's mostly what i write

[avidbeader]

Voltron fanfic: “Scattered” Chapter 17

Season 2 AU. No ships, K+ to T rating. Begin at the beginning here.

Got another rec, especially for those who like their Voltron stories without any romance and with plenty of Pidge. Check out “Though She Be But Little” by TheRedScreech over on FF-Net for a delightful series of roughly-connected Pidge-centric stories!

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The moment they entered the bridge, Lance shouted at Coran and Matt, who were bent over Coran’s control panel. “Allura said we can contact our families! How do we do that?”

Coran looked at Matt. “Do you remember what to do?”

Matt grinned. “Yes, sir!”

“Lance, go to your station. Matt will help you.”

Coran turned to Hunk. “How about you, Number Two?”

“What? I can talk to my mom?”

“Yes, we can initiate both links at the same time.” Coran walked over to Hunk’s station and pulled up his comm panel. “Do you have a number for reaching your mother’s communication device?”

“Oh, quiznak.” Hunk concentrated, trying to remember the number that he had programmed into his phone years ago and promptly forgotten. The phone that he had left sitting on the nightstand of his room at the Garrison because Lance was in such a hurry to sneak out that night. He had the entire periodic table at his mental fingertips, but couldn’t remember his mom’s number. “Does it have to be a number? We can do vid calls with email addresses.”

“Hold on a tic… I need to access Number Five’s alphabet converter…There! Enter your information here.”

Hunk did so. On the other side of the bridge he could hear Lance going a mile a minute in Spanish. And then a video screen popped up on his panel, showing a round, dark face with graying hair.

“Tinā? It’s me…”

“Tsuyoshi? Lo’u atali’i?’ The woman looked away from the screen and screamed, “Nani! Nani!”

In the background, another woman responded, “What is it, Iolana?”

Hunk felt the tiniest bit of queasiness as the screen he was watching moved and spun, showing him his aunt. Her face lit up and she whooped in delight. “Yoshi! You’re alive!”

“Of course I’m alive, uso-Nani!” As he watched, the screen whipped back around and his aunt moved into view, sitting beside his mother. “Tinā, I am really sorry I didn’t call or anything. We’ve been on a bit of a trip through a wormhole to the other side of the universe where we ended up fighting an evil empire—”

“Two months!” Iolana snapped. “It’s been almost two months—”

“Whoa, I had no idea. We’ve been so busy—”

“It’s been two months and THEY TOLD US YOU WERE DEAD!”

“What?” Hunk’s expression did a one-eighty from placating to baffled. “They told you we were dead?”

Coran had retreated to give Hunk some privacy, but his head snapped up at that. “Oh, dear. That’s going to complicate things.”

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Matt entered the address for a vid call. As Lance waited for the call to connect, he tried to rehearse what to say to his parents. Disappearing off the face of the Earth in an alien ship for a few weeks was just a bit higher on the scale than hijacking his older brother’s waverunner or getting caught trying to hide a camera in the girls’ bathroom at school.

Finally, his mother picked up, not looking at the screen as she soothed a toddler in her arms—was that his niece Lydia? She had changed so much! A thread of disquiet ran through Lance’s chest. How long had they been gone?

“Look, I don’t know which network you’re from, but you get the same answer as everyone else. No comment, no comment, no comment!”

“Mamá?”

Her gaze sharpened on the screen and her eyes widened. The child in her arms laughed, reaching for the tablet, and shrieked, “Lan-Lan-Lan!”

Bedlam resulted. Faces crowded behind Rosa, all talking at once. Lance tried his best to keep up, not noticing when he switched to Spanish. Finally, as someone actually tried to snatch the tablet from her hand, his mother took control.

“Enough! Mina, take Lydia. All of you, stay here! Seamus, come with me!” As Lance watched, his mother dragged his father out of the family room and into…his old bedroom? But where was his stuff? The room looked nearly empty.

“Mom? Dad?”

They moved the tablet so he could see them both, and he felt his smile go watery. Don’t cry, don’t cry, you’re a Paladin of Voltron and Paladins do NOT cry!

“Hello, mi querido. We are very glad to see that you’re alive.”

“Um, of course I’m alive? We just sort of got sidetracked when the Blue Lion took us through a wormhole across space.”

His father shook his head. “You don’t understand, son. The Garrison told us you’d been killed in a training accident. You, your friend Hunk, and the Gunderson boy. We were told it was an explosion, not enough left of the bodies to bury.”

Lance stared at them, slack-jawed. It had never occurred to him that the Garrison might lie about their disappearance to their families. “Dad, Mom, I am so sorry! We would’ve tried to get in touch faster if we’d known!”

“We believe you, hijo. But you’re back now. When can you come home?”

“Allura promised that she’d find a way for us to visit. I’ll ask her as soon as she finishes healing Keith—”

His parents interrupted at the same time.

“Visit? You’re not staying?”

“Healing him? Why does he need healing?”

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Allura worked with a delicate touch. She was very afraid of hurting Keith, even though he seemed calm and still next to her. She pictured the Quintessence as a ribbon for the embroidery she did as a child, pulling it gently from Keith like an unwinding skein and threading it into the tapestry of the Castle.

As she extracted the excess energy from him, Allura realized that it had a…taste, for want of a better word. She didn’t remember that from the Balmera. At the time she was too focused on actually controlling the transfer, taking the Quintessence from the Castle and conducting the ritual that would multiply it in large enough quantities to heal the enormous beast.

But she could feel Keith in this energy. It seemed to carry his scent, the light musk of his skin and the leather of his jacket. She could sense his self-imposed isolation, even within the team of Voltron, and his driving need to better his skills in order to protect the others. There was a dangerous edge to his Quintessence, a volatility that could slip from control in an instant. And yet the energy was warm and vibrant, welcoming like a good fire after a cold day. Allura knew that from now on she would be able to identify Keith’s presence and find him if she concentrated just as she did with the Lions, though probably not from the same vast distances. She wondered briefly about a way to safely duplicate this process for the other Paladins.

Then something growled in her head, with a clear indication that she should stop.

But…we’re not all the way to normal levels of Quintessence for humans yet.

The growl repeated, louder and more insistent. She realized it was the Red Lion.

Allura hesitated, unsure whether to trust her own instincts or the Lion’s. When a second growl echoed the first—Black­­—she relented. She closed off the flow of Quintessence and carefully disengaged her link with Keith. She opened her eyes to see him deeply asleep, his face open and serene. He looked startlingly younger without the perpetual frown that was his usual expression. She glanced at Shiro and caught her breath at the open affection, the caring in his face as he looked at his fellow Paladin. She wanted to ask, but didn’t dare interrupt the moment.

He noticed that she no longer glowed and turned to her. “Did it work?”

She nodded. “He’s stable now. The cryo-pod should be able to handle anything else.”

“Let’s get one ready, then.”

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Pidge wanted to babble about everything to her mother, about the adventures and dangers and joys and sorrows. Before Kerberos she had shared easily with her mom. A distance had grown between them immediately after the news of the failed mission broke, mostly due to her own insistence that it wasn’t true, that Shiro would never, ever, have made a mistake so grave. It was only when she got into the Garrison’s databases long enough to see the key video evidence from the probes showing absolutely no evidence of a crash that Colleen began to believe. The fact that Iverson banned Katie completely from the premises helped convince her. By the time Katie Holt hatched the plan to become Pidge Gunderson, her mom was completely on board.

But she could hear in the background that Lance and Hunk were having tough conversations with their families, learning that the three of them had been declared dead as well. She was not at all surprised at that. For one thing, she had searched their names and found the stories published in the last couple of months while keeping watch over Keith. For another, she already knew that the Garrison was capable of lying to cover up evidence of alien activity.

So Pidge kept things simple, assured her mother that she was good, and let her father have most of the conversation since they had been gone longer. She caught Matt’s eye and gestured an invitation to swap places with him and he nodded.

“Mom, I’m going to step over and help Lance with his call so Matt can talk to you some more. Dad can keep me posted on when we can get together – it’ll be easy between the cloaking device on my Lion and our personal camo units to slip in.”

“You should let the other families know that – I’m getting texts from the McClain girls because Lance has already let it out that he’s not planning to stay here.”

“Will do. Love you, Mom. See you soon!”

Pidge moved to stand behind Lance. He was still going in Spanish, a language in which she only had novice skill, but she could tell that he was agitatedly trying to answer two questions at once.

When his parents spotted her, his mom caught her breath and switched to English. “Hello, darling!”

Mr. McClain nodded. “Gunderson, good to see you survived all this as well.”

His wife elbowed him. “That’s Katie Holt. I told you, Seamus. I told you what Colleen said about her daughter disguising herself as a boy so she could get into the Garrison.”

“Oh, yes, I think you did. Katie, then. Are you looking forward to getting things back to normal?”

Oh, no wonder Lance was panicking.

“Well, not yet, sir. We have to go back and finish taking care of the Galra Empire.”

“You…what? No, you’re just kids!”

She shrugged. “We may be kids, but we’re the ones that the Voltron Lions picked. Now, I can arrange for Lance to visit without the Garrison knowing, but it can only be a visit. We have to finish what we started.”

She laid a hand on Lance’s shoulder, and he straightened. “You heard her. The galaxy needs us, Dad. And the sooner we get back and take care of Zarkon, the sooner we can come home for good.”

If Pidge’s matter-of-fact rebuttal had surprised him, Seamus was floored by Lance’s reply. Rosa laid a hand on his arm.

“Not now, Seamus. Lance, how much longer can you talk right now? You should say hello to Jeremy and your sisters and Abuelita while everyone is here.”

Lance looked at Pidge. “I don’t think we’re in any hurry at the moment since we’re waiting on Allura.”

She nodded and moved the hand on his shoulder into a pat. You got this?

He nodded back. I think so.

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Iolana Garrett could handle things. She had been able to handle things all her life. She had handled the death of her father at a young age and growing up with her mother working two jobs while she went to school and took care of the house and her sister Konani. She had handled the desertion of her husband of less than a year, leaving her with a tiny boy to raise. She had handled the fact that her child was a gifted maker, always pulling his toys apart to see how they worked, by channeling some of that energy into cooking.

And she thought she was handling the death of her son in a training accident until she screamed at poor Colleen Holt over her insistence that the story was false. Colleen had not tried to contact her after that but the guilt ate at Iolana. Yes, it hurt to hear another mother cling to false hope, but was flinging facts in her face at top volume the way to handle that?

And now she was looking at a screen with her not-dead son and some red-haired fellow with strange ears and an enormous moustache. And after her initial shout of fury, she might be handling this. It was clear that her Yoshi had no idea of the Garrison’s story about a training accident.

“I am going to fillet that commander when I get hold of him! Why would he lie to us?”

“Tinā, it’s okay! I mean, we did sort of disappear without a trace. And they didn’t want people to panic about aliens being so close to our planet.”

Coran tried to offer support. “And since then Hunk and the others have been very busy trying to help destroy an evil empire! But now that we know how to contact you all, he can stay in touch!”

Iolana peered at the pointy-eared man, trying to decide whether the greater affront was telling her that her child was a soldier in a war that wasn’t his problem, or calling him that awful nickname that had stuck around since elementary school. But she could handle all this, especially if they now had a way to communicate regularly. The man was still talking.

“…and as soon as the princess finishes with our Red Paladin, we’ll see if we can get Hunk down there for a visit with you!”

A princess? She could handle a princess if it meant actually getting to hug her son again.

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With Keith safely in the cryo-pod, Allura and Shiro headed for the bridge. They paused in the doorway, seeing pairs of people at three stations, talking to comm screens.

“Is now a good time to contact this commander?” Allura asked in a low voice. “There’s a comm panel in the meeting room.”

Shiro shook his head. “I want them to stew for a while. I also want Keith back at a hundred percent and the chance for all of us to discuss the options before we tackle the Garrison.”

“Then…do you want to contact your family?”

Shiro looked surprised at that. “I…they think I’m dead. And I’m not sure I could do that to them again. Be alive again but leave them and possibly get killed fighting Zarkon.”

Allura inhaled sharply at that. She seized his arm and pulled him back down the corridor to the nearest room, which happened to be a lounging area with enormous gallery windows looking out. Shiro was reminded of how scarily strong Allura was.

She turned him to face her. “Shiro, whatever you decide, I will ultimately support it. But I want you to reconsider. I would give almost anything to be able to speak to my parents again. And I will never have it, not even second-hand.” Tears formed in her clear-sky eyes at the memory of having to destroy the artificial intelligence of King Alfor. “Your family is something that is irreplaceable. You can surround yourselves with the best possible friends and come close, but it’s not the same.” She stepped forward and embraced him. He reflexively brought his arms up to return it.

She pressed her cheek to his face. “Think about it.” She withdrew and left him alone in the lounge.

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Colleen was still chatting with Matt, mainly listening as he rhapsodized over the Altean ship and its technology. She was already steeling herself for him to leave with Katie when they returned to wherever it was. She might get him to stay for a month or two if the Voltron Force promised to come back for him, but that would be it.

A notification flashed in the corner of her screen. It was from Daichi Shirogane: The Garretts and McClains say their sons have made contact with them. We haven’t heard from Takashi. Do you know what is happening?

Colleen typed a swift reply: He might be working with the princess. From what Matt and Katie have said, he is the leader of their team. I’ll ask.

She focused back on Matt. “Sweetheart, could you find out why Shiro hasn’t called his parents yet? They really want to see him.”

“Sure thing, Mom!” She watched as he jumped up and left her screen.

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Matt nearly ran into the princess as he charged for the door. “Oh, sorry, your highness!” He tried to bow in passing and nearly fell. Allura steadied him and laughed lightly.

“No ceremony needed, Matt. ‘Princess’ will do and there’s no need to bow unless it’s a formal situation. Why the hurry?”

“I need to find Shiro. His parents are asking the other families why he hasn’t gotten in touch yet.”

“So they know he’s alive?” Allura’s face lit up.

“Oh, yeah! Mom told them right after we talked to her the first time, just like the others.”

“That’s wonderful news! Go, Shiro’s in the viewing gallery down the hall!”

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Tinā – Samoan for “mother”

Lo’u atali’I – Samoan for “my son”

uso-Nani – this is a mashup of the beginning of the phrase for “aunt” and her name

Mamá – Spanish for “mom”

mi querido – Spanish for “my darling” or “my dearest”

hijo – Spanish for “son”

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#scattered by avidbeader #voltron #voltron legendary defender #voltron fanfic #fanfic: voltron